Avangrid Convenes Active Innovators and Leading Energy Partners

Avangrid’s Ninth Annual Innovation Forum highlights breakthrough energy technologies modernizing the grid

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avangrid, Inc., a leading energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, convened its ninth annual Innovation Forum on June 17-18, 2026 at the David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University and BASE-X, a deep technology convener. The program brought together industry leaders, technology innovators, and academic experts to accelerate solutions to the energy sector’s most critical challenges under the theme “Demonstrate and Deploy.”

“Delivering a modern, resilient, and affordable energy system requires bold thinking and strong collaboration,” said Avangrid CEO José Antonio Miranda. “Our annual Innovation Forum brings together partners and perspectives to develop and deploy new technologies to ensure we are meeting the nation’s evolving energy needs. I am especially grateful to all our participants, including Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Chair Jeremy McDiarmid, for their engagement in this year’s forum and continued leadership in advancing a reliable and affordable energy future.”

“To transform the grid, we need to think creatively about how we develop and scale innovation,” said Ignacio Estella, Senior Vice President of Innovation, Talent, Performance and Equal Opportunity at Avangrid. “By connecting startups, academia, and industry leaders, we’re building an ecosystem that empowers talent and accelerates the adoption of technologies that will define the future of energy.”

Throughout the day, participants heard from Avangrid leaders, external experts, and strategic partners on topics including transmission development, evolving energy markets, physical AI, innovation financing, and the capabilities needed to move promising ideas from concept to field deployment.

The program also included facilitated networking and breakout conversations with partners, reinforcing the importance of collaboration across the innovation ecosystem. These exchanges helped translate the day’s discussions into potential next steps and supported Avangrid’s focus on scaling solutions that can deliver measurable impact for the business and the communities it serves.

The forum featured a full day of speakers, panel discussions, and networking opportunities focused on advancing grid modernization and system resiliency, including a panel on grid enhancing technologies moderated by Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Chair Jeremy McDiarmid. This year’s program emphasized strategies to demonstrate, deploy, and scale breakthrough energy technologies while strengthening transmission and distribution capacity.

On the second day of the program, Avangrid convened its second annual Startup Pitch Competition themed “Robotics for Energy Assets.” The startups were sourced through partner referrals and broader ecosystem outreach, then evaluated based on their alignment with Avangrid’s business priorities, technical maturity, scalability, and potential to deliver measurable value. From a competitive applicant pool, a shortlist of six startups was invited to pitch in person to a panel of internal and external expert judges for the opportunity to receive a $50,000 funded pilot with Avangrid.

The startup presenters included:

• ​Heimdall Power
• ​Voltair Labs
• ​LineBird
• ​Clobotics
• ​TreeSwift
• ​Skyraptor

Voltair Labs, a startup developing autonomous drones to continuously monitor infrastructure, won the competition. Its solution introduces a network of substation-based autonomous drones that can help turn grid data collection into a continuous, scalable, and on-demand service—helping reduce inspection costs while increasing the frequency, accuracy, and operational value of geospatial intelligence. By shifting from periodic inspection campaigns to always-on data capture, the platform proposes near-real-time visibility of transmission assets, strengthening proactive decision-making and risk mitigation.

Avangrid and Voltair Labs will partner to define the pilot scope, identify the most relevant use cases, and execute a real-world deployment of this innovative technology.

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. is a leading energy company in the United States working to meet the growing demand for energy for homes and businesses across the nation through service, innovation, and continued investments by expanding grid infrastructure and energy generation projects. Avangrid has offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon, including operations in 25 states with approximately $50 billion in assets. Avangrid owns and operates seven electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.4 million customers in New York and New England. It also owns and operates nearly 100 energy generation facilities across the United States producing more than 11 GW of power for over 3 million customers. Avangrid employs approximately 8,500 people and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2026 for the eighth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit http://www.avangrid.com