Two Australian software companies combine to support infrastructure and risk management challenges
SYDNEY, Australia, 15 October 2026 – Neara, the pioneer of physics-enabled digital twin modelling for critical infrastructure, today announced it has acquired Zepben, the Australian software company specialising in CIM-based electrical network modelling for utilities, to expand its product offering to critical infrastructure operators.
Integrating electrical modelling into Neara’s existing platform capabilities, including physical and mechanical risk assessments and financial risk trade-off analysis, adds a new layer of depth to the decision-making process at the individual asset layer and network level. This delivers a more accurate understanding of utility networks and establishes the foundation for informed, evidence-based investments across reliability, resiliency, affordability and risk mitigation. Neara’s integrated digital twin supports customer defensibility as industry regulation and scrutiny rise, allowing every decision to be traced to both the physical and electrical calculations that produced it.
Incorporating electrical modelling functions into Neara’s core platform will enhance Neara’s transformative impact across global infrastructure networks, opening a pathway to engage new customers and partners for joint initiatives. Extended platform capabilities will enable deeper integration opportunities and provide an innovative value-add to electrical simulation solution partners.
The acquisition supports growing demand for combined physical and electrical capabilities as data aggregation and connection remain major bottlenecks for utilities globally. Once integrated, Neara’s overarching functionalities will expand the depth of problems that can be solved for infrastructure operators, including:
Neara’s Chief Strategy Officer Karamvir Singh said on the acquisition: “Neara established the global benchmark for physics modelling and engineering-grade analysis. Acquiring Zepben will enable physical, electrical and risk modelling to come together holistically, addressing a critical US market gap and accelerating our ability to partner with leading players in the electrical modelling category.”
“In combination with other leading industry solutions, Neara will be unique in its ability to unlock insights for customers and collaborators that only surface when the three individual layers come together. This will create a new pathway to extend our established US market presence and advance customer engagement opportunities.”
Zepben CEO Adam White said: “Joining Neara accelerates what we’re working towards in Australia and around the world. Our technology tackles many of the challenges Neara’s customers already face, so it’s a natural fit. Together, we’re bringing electrical and physical modelling into one digital twin grounded in physics. It’s exciting to see two Australian companies come together like this, giving our team more resources and support to solve bigger customer problems. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
About Neara
Neara is creating a new category of infrastructure intelligence with its AI-assisted, physics-enabled digital twin – a unified, engineering-grade model that predicts how entire networks behave under real environmental, mechanical, and electrical conditions. This physics-driven foundation elevates the digital twin from a visual reference to a decision engine, enabling continuous scenario testing, automated insights, and proactive grid management. The model supports end-to-end network governance, from routine operational decisions to emergency scenarios and major grid-hardening investments, all without verification from manual surveys. Neara’s technology has modelled>1.5 million square miles of global network territory featuring ~10 million assets, across four continents from California to Ireland and Australia. Neara’s utility customers identify outage risks 9x faster, restore power 3x faster, and save thousands of field visits annually. More information is available at www.neara.com.