By: Russ Spencer

The fast-accelerating transformation of global energy infrastructure, propelled by the demands of artificial intelligence and next-generation data centers, has produced one of Israel’s most notable technology exits of the year. As reported on Monday by Calcalistech.com, U.S.-based Itron, a major power in energy and water-infrastructure management, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Israeli startup Locusview for $525 million in cash, marking a sweeping expansion of Itron’s reach into the rapidly growing sector of Digital Construction Management (DCM). The acquisition, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, positions Itron to become a dominant participant in the planning, coordination, and deployment of increasingly complex electricity networks—systems that have become indispensable in the age of AI.

Locusview, founded in 2014 by CEO Shahar Levi, has spent the past decade developing advanced project-management software used in the construction and modernization of energy-infrastructure systems throughout the United States. As the Calcalistech.com report noted, the company’s platform digitizes and synchronizes construction processes that traditionally relied on fragmented manual coordination between contractors, suppliers, and utility providers. In a sector known for its operational complexity and razor-thin margins for error, Locusview rapidly built a reputation for its ability to prevent costly mistakes, improve safety, and accelerate project completion—capabilities that became even more valuable as the electricity demands of AI data centers surged beyond original industry projections.

Itron, traded on Nasdaq with a valuation of approximately $4.5 billion, has long been recognized as a global leader in utility-management technologies such as smart meters, grid analytics, and water-efficiency systems. According to extensive reporting by Calcalistech.com, the Locusview purchase marks the first time Itron will fully enter the domain of network-planning and construction, extending its influence deeper into the energy-infrastructure life cycle. Under the terms of the acquisition, most of Locusview’s 120 employees—60 of them based in Israel—will join Itron’s global workforce. Levi himself will transition into a senior leadership role at Itron, signaling the American company’s confidence in the Israeli firm’s vision and technological expertise.

The acquisition represents an exceptional return for Locusview’s investors. Despite operating for a decade, the company remained extraordinarily capital-efficient, raising only $70 million across its entire lifespan, with a single major funding round occurring in 2021. As the Calcalistech.com report emphasized, the company had not sought external capital in recent years because it was already profitable, making it one of the most financially disciplined and strategically focused startups in Israel’s energy-tech ecosystem. Major shareholders include IGP, Claltech, Leumi Partners, Discount Capital, and OurCrowd. With Levi estimated to own roughly one-third of the company, his personal proceeds are expected to exceed $100 million, one of the largest payouts for a founder in Israel’s energy-infrastructure technology sector.

Locusview’s growth trajectory closely mirrored the evolving priorities of the global energy sector. When the company was launched a decade ago, its business model aligned with U.S. regulatory efforts encouraging the replacement of aging natural-gas and electricity infrastructure—much of it considered environmentally burdensome or at high risk of failure—and with early projections that the shift to electric vehicles would spark a major increase in electricity demand. But as Levi explained in a detailed interview with Calcalistech.com, the company’s long-term forecasts did not anticipate the extraordinary acceleration caused by AI. Over the past two years, hyperscale data-center development—primarily in the United States—has expanded at a speed that utilities describe as unparalleled in modern energy-planning history. Levi described this surge as “a leap in electricity-infrastructure investment because of AI,” adding that he never imagined demand would reach its current scale when he founded the company.

This shift reshaped Locusview’s strategic outlook. In 2023 alone, the company surpassed the milestone of one million energy-infrastructure projects managed through its platform in the United States, representing tens of billions of dollars in project value. According to the information provided in the Calcalistech.com report, Locusview now works with more than 25 of the largest energy-infrastructure companies in the U.S., along with approximately 150 infrastructure contractors. Its system is relied upon to map existing underground and overhead energy lines with high precision—an increasingly crucial capability as infrastructure density intensifies and the consequences of construction errors grow costlier.

Despite its momentum and the vastness of the market opportunity, Locusview chose to sell. Levi described the decision as a matter of timing. With global investment in grid modernization accelerating simultaneously across the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia, he said the company faced a “now or never” moment. Speaking to Calcalistech.com, he explained that remaining independent would have required raising significant new capital, which would in turn slow the company’s ability to scale globally and risk ceding strategic ground to larger players.

“The identity of the players who will lead this industry is being determined now,” Levi said in the interview. Over the past year, the company received six separate acquisition offers from both strategic and financial entities. Locusview rejected all of them until Itron approached with a proposal that offered not just a sale, but a partnership with a global brand capable of deploying Locusview’s technology across 100 countries. The combination of Itron’s international footprint and Locusview’s deeply specialized infrastructure-management tools creates a platform that both companies believe is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the AI-driven global demand for electricity.

Levi highlighted that multiple countries are now treating grid expansion and modernization as “a national-security issue,” a trend reported consistently by Calcalistech.com. The explosive appetite for AI computing power has not only overwhelmed local utility planning capacities but has also sparked geopolitical concerns, particularly surrounding energy independence and reliability. In this climate, Locusview’s ability to streamline and accelerate construction is viewed as strategically indispensable.

For Israel, the sale shines a spotlight on the country’s growing influence in global infrastructure-technology markets. Locusview’s appearance in the No. 3 position on Calcalist’s list of the 50 most promising startups in 2023 signaled early recognition of the company’s role in shaping the future of energy management. Its acquisition now reflects the second wave of exits reshaping Israel’s tech landscape: companies that are profitable, operationally mature, and mission-critical to global industries experiencing seismic change.

Itron’s purchase of Locusview also aligns with the American company’s broader strategy of becoming the world’s leading provider of integrated infrastructure-management solutions. As detailed in the Calcalistech.com report, expanding from smart-metering and resource management into construction-planning places Itron at the center of what many analysts describe as the largest rebuilding effort of the modern era—the redesign of global electricity systems to support artificial intelligence, electric mobility, and climate-resilience initiatives.

For Locusview’s team, many of whom have spent years operating in an intensely specialized sector, the acquisition marks both a professional transition and an opportunity for global expansion. The company’s employees in Israel are expected to remain based there, becoming part of Itron’s wider innovation network and helping to guide future development of the integrated DCM platform.

As the global infrastructure market continues to evolve, the Locusview-Itron merger stands as a vivid example of how Israeli innovation regularly intersects with global industrial transformation. And as Calcalistech.com report emphasized, this acquisition signals not just a significant financial outcome, but the emergence of Israeli expertise as a central pillar in the modernization of the world’s most essential systems.

Locusview now enters its next chapter backed by one of the largest infrastructure-technology companies in the world—a partnership forged at a moment when the demand for smart, efficient, and scalable grid expansion has reached historic levels, and when the technologies enabling that expansion have never been more indispensable.