Vulcan Line Tools Fuels Growth with $3M Capital Raise

Investment by local donors empowers the Birmingham startup’s latest innovation in technology for the electric grid and fiber internet build-outs

BIRMINGHAM, AL, Oct. 23, 2024 – Vulcan Line Tools, a Birmingham-based startup in hardware the electric utility and telecommunication space, announced a second round of funding from Walter and Virginia Woltosz. The $3M investment will support the expansion of Vulcan’s flagship software, Azmyth™, and help Vulcan meet its growing operational needs. Azmyth™ revolutionizes the way companies gather geospatial data on critical infrastructure like power poles, and Vulcan is excited to usher this new technology into the industry.

“I am so thankful for the team we’ve built, the people we get to work with, and the continued support from Walt and Ginger,” said Zac Young, Founder and CEO of Vulcan Line Tools. “With this funding we can continue building tech that makes the grid safer and more efficient.”

Introducing Azmyth™: A New Era in GIS Software for Utilities and Telecom

As America experiences a rapid rise in public funding for fiber internet, communication companies are racing to service new areas. To do so, they must attach fiber cables to the power poles in these areas before their competition.

Azmyth™, the newest addition to Vulcan Line Tools’ suite of products, provides these companies with an edge. Using the software, users can locate, measure, and map poles in without leaving the office. Compared to the current method—requiring pairs of fielders to walk from pole to pole on foot, manually recording measurements as they go—Azmyth™ is exceptionally efficient.

Vulcan collects imagery using a vehicle with a 360° camera and uploads the data to Azmyth™. Once uploaded, users utilize a simple “point and shoot” method in the software to take measurements, directing crosshairs at the poles and attachments they want to measure. As the software gains exposure, Vulcan is offering a service called the “Red Yellow Green Assessment,” in which companies pay them to assess the attachment viability for every pole in a specific area. They can process roughly 100 miles of imagery a day and extract 2,500 poles a week. Since August, they have collected 2,600 miles of imagery in 4 states and assessed more than 29,000 distribution poles.

About Vulcan Line Tools

Founded in 2019, Vulcan Line Tools has grown from an idea to an impressive young company. Azmyth™ represents their latest development, but it is not their first product; they got their start building hardware for electric utilities. The WaveTimer and Dynamometers, which both measure sag and tension in power lines, offer critical solutions to electric utilities as they work to storm-harden their grids. Just last month, Hurricanes Helene and Milton knocked out power for millions of residents in the Southeast, demonstrating the need to protect our critical infrastructure. As the grid continues to expand and communication networks grow more advanced, Vulcan is well-placed to help the industries move forward.