UK-based startup Intelligent Core has secured £2 million to push forward its modular industrial AI platform, promising significant advancements for sectors such as oil, gas, water utilities, and manufacturing. This funding, led by Fuel Ventures, is poised to help the company enhance its platform that integrates predictive analytics, real-time decision-making, and autonomous control directly into existing industrial systems.
The Problem Intelligent Core Aims to Solve
Here’s the issue: many industrial operations rely on dated, slow, and siloed systems. These inefficiencies lead to higher costs, missed opportunities in predictive maintenance, and underwhelming sustainability results. Intelligent Core is stepping in to create better solutions by integrating fast, live data collection with practical AI-powered predictions and actions. The goal is bold, up to an 80% reduction in operational expenses while improving both outcomes and environmental impact.
What Sets Intelligent Core Apart
Led by its CEO, Tom Greenlees, Intelligent Core has built a platform capable of working in cloud, edge, and on-premise setups. The system directly connects to sensors and field devices, enabling operators to identify problems faster, automate workflows, and cut down manual processes. Additionally, the company’s proprietary hardware aims to bypass legacy data obstacles that often complicate full automation.
For heavy industries like oil and gas, which often grapple with downtime and equipment failures, this kind of predictive and streamlined operational improvement isn’t just a convenience, it’s business-critical.
Where the Money Will Go
This new round of funding will be used to expand Intelligent Core’s team structure, accelerate product development, and initiate broader deployments globally. With a challenging but exciting road ahead in 2026, having backers like Fuel Ventures, Plug and Play, and Helion Partners provides a strong financial and strategic foundation.
Lessons for Female Entrepreneurs
While reading stories like this, many founders, especially female entrepreneurs like myself, might wonder, “What’s the takeaway here for me?” Here are a few reflections based on the case of Intelligent Core:
1. Find the Practical Problem Your Startup Solves
One of the reasons Intelligent Core has succeeded lies in its precise focus on real-world industrial challenges. They’re not just building something high-tech for the sake of it; they’re solving inefficiencies in sectors that affect millions of global businesses. As a female founder, jumping into a specific and pressing problem can help you position yourself with confidence in any industry.
2. Build Something That Scales Well
Many startups fail because they don’t consider scalability from the start. Intelligent Core’s platform, a mix of AI, actionable predictions, and proprietary hardware, sets itself apart by being implemented at every operational level, from edge to large-scale cloud systems.
For women entering STEM or tech fields, thinking bigger about how your service or platform can stretch beyond its initial use case can make your pitch stronger to investors.
3. Don’t Go at It Alone When Funding Is Needed
Personally, I come from the bootstrapping mindset. It's empowering but often limits growth speed. Partnering with investors like Fuel Ventures, as Intelligent Core did, can provide not only financial fuel but also the network, feedback, and strategy adjustments needed to compete at scale.
Actionable Steps for Entrepreneurs
If Intelligent Core inspires you, then take these steps:
- Zero in on industries needing disruption. Write down sectors where inefficiencies still cost them billions, think logistics, renewable energy, or water resource management.
- Understand investor motivation. For Intelligent Core, investors are betting on the blending of hardware and software innovation to address legacy system gaps. Think about not just your tech offering but also the business story you want to tell a potential backer.
- Start lean but dream big. Opportunities often arise when founders focus deeply on local markets first and expand outward, a method Intelligent Core mirrors by focusing on the European industrial AI market.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even as we celebrate success stories like Intelligent Core, mistakes from startups are common. Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Overlooking hardware complexity: If your startup involves hardware, prepare for much longer product development cycles than software-only startups face.
- Neglecting operational savings metrics: CEOs must calculate exactly how much time or money they’re saving buyers. Lack of validated metrics could alienate customers and investors.
- Skipping teamwork in pitch refinement: It’s crucial to involve multiple perspectives when preparing funding pitches for any investment round.
Looking Ahead for Industrial Startups
The rise of applied industrial AI for heavy industries shows an emerging opportunity for entrepreneurs who love big, challenging fields. Intelligent Core used a transparent yet ambitious pitch to highlight its capabilities in delivering real, measurable savings to infrastructure-heavy sectors.
Small businesses and tech startups should take note of their playbook: focus on measurable impact, reduce operational waste, and explore partnerships to fund expansion without chasing capital for the wrong reasons.
Entrepreneurship, especially in deeptech, can be intimidating. But intelligent planning leads to intelligent business, and hopefully, intelligent funding.
FAQ
1. What is Intelligent Core and what does it do?
Intelligent Core is a UK-based startup that focuses on modular AI solutions for industrial sectors like oil, gas, water utilities, and manufacturing. Its platform integrates predictive analytics, real-time decision-making, and autonomous control to optimize operations. Learn more about Intelligent Core
2. How much funding has Intelligent Core raised to date?
The company has raised £2 million in December 2025, following a previous £500,000 funding round earlier the same year. Read the detailed funding news
3. Who led the funding round and who are the other investors?
The funding round was led by Fuel Ventures, with additional investments from Plug and Play Tech Centre and Helion Partners. Discover more about Fuel Ventures
4. What problems does Intelligent Core aim to solve?
The platform addresses inefficiencies from outdated systems in industrial workflows, helping reduce operational costs by up to 80% and aiming for better sustainability in industries. Explore how Intelligent Core tackles these inefficiencies
5. How does Intelligent Core’s technology work?
The platform connects directly to sensors and legacy systems, delivering real-time predictions and automation through cloud, edge, and on-premise setups. Its proprietary hardware eliminates data hurdles often faced by traditional systems. Learn about Intelligent Core's technical approach
6. What industries can benefit from Intelligent Core's innovations?
Key sectors include energy, oil and gas, water utilities, manufacturing, and transport, where downtime, inefficiencies, and increasing demands for sustainability are critical challenges. Read insights into targeted industries
7. What are the benefits of using Intelligent Core’s platform?
The benefits include operational cost savings, faster problem resolution through predictive tools, process automation, and enhancements in environmental sustainability. Find out more about its benefits
8. How will the new funding be utilized?
The funding will be used to expand their team, accelerate product development, and scale global deployments of their AI platform. Read about their expansion plans
9. What makes Intelligent Core’s platform unique?
Its integration of proprietary hardware with an AI system ensures adaptability to legacy infrastructure, live data processing, and predictive problem-solving at unparalleled speeds. Discover how the platform is unique
10. Who leads Intelligent Core and what is their vision?
Intelligent Core is led by CEO Tom Greenlees, who envisions transforming how industries use AI to optimize workflows, reduce costs, and improve sustainability. Get to know CEO Tom Greenlees
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
