BGF leads investment in neuroplastic AI pioneers Luffy AI

BGF has completed an £8.1m investment in Luffy AI, the pioneers of neuroplastic AI in real-time adaptive control, as part of a Series A funding round.

The round is led by BGF, and joined by MIG Capital AG through its MIG Fonds, the Munich-based deep tech VC. Existing investors Bow Capital, Chrysalix, Momenta and UKI2S have also followed on.

While industrial AI adoption remains constrained by the data, compute and connectivity requirements of conventional deep learning, Luffy has developed a neuroplastic AI stack that addresses these challenges and excels in real-time adaptive control.

Its sparse neural networks are trained in simulation, without the need for large training data sets, and refined in reality, where they can achieve up to 400x greater efficiency than traditional deep learning. The lightweight architecture is ultra-energy efficient and self-refining, meaning there is no constant retraining from the cloud.

Dr Matthew Carr, co-founder and CEO of Luffy AI, said: “AI has been transformative for language and image generation, but has yet to make a substantial impact in industry beyond predictive maintenance and dashboards. Factories, motors and physical systems need AI that is small, fast and adaptive in real time, not cloud-dependent, or with huge data and compute requirements. At Luffy we’ve already proven what’s possible with AI motor control and will use this new funding to scale up our delivery and rollout.”

The startup is currently deploying its AI models into industrial motor control and VFD applications, such as industrial pumps, fans and conveyors. Around 50% of the world’s electrical energy is consumed in an electric motor, the vast majority of which are inefficient.

Adaptive AI-based motor control will enable plug & play motors that can tune themselves to the load and operating characteristics in deployment. AI control & optimisation will save energy, reduce commissioning time and improve overall motor performance.

Kate Ronayne, early stage investor at BGF, said: “Luffy AI is disrupting an industry norm that has stood for 100 years. Embedding highly specialised AI directly into physical industrial systems reduces reliance on specialist engineers through a self-commissioning, one-size-fits-all approach. The company has taken impressive steps to validate their differentiated technology, and we’re delighted to partner with them as they scale.”

The funding will drive the startup’s commercialisation pipeline, moving successful PoCs and pilots into significant partnerships with leading industry brands. In the longer term the technology can support a wide range of use cases, including positioning control for robotics and drones, thermal process control and physical AI applications.

Dr. Nicolas Rose-André, Investment Manager at MIG Capital, said: “Luffy does more with far less data and compute, which is precisely what makes AI workable inside physical machines. With electric motors consuming around half the world’s electricity, the efficiency opportunity alone is enormous. We’re backing a rare mix of differentiated technology and a world-class team to deliver it.”