There is a crack on a wind turbine blade. A human inspector sees a surface blemish, takes a photo, and writes a note. The real problem, the one that determines whether a multi-million-euro asset keeps spinning or gets shut down, is hidden beneath the surface. Ilosta, a Glasgow startup founded in 2019, is betting that the only honest answer comes from physics, not just pixels.
Its software, Crack Map™, ingests inspection photos, SCADA data, and non-destructive testing results. It then runs the numbers through fracture mechanics models, layered with machine learning, to estimate the three-dimensional profile of the damage. The output is a quantified engineering assessment of structural integrity, a decision-ready report that tells an operator not just that a crack exists, but what it means for the remaining life of the component [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024]. It is a quiet, Nordic sort of ambition: to replace qualitative guesswork with a calculable risk.
A wedge of physics in an AI world
In a climate tech landscape crowded with pure-play AI wrappers, Ilosta's differentiation is its insistence on first principles. The core intellectual property is not a novel neural network architecture, but the integration of established fracture mechanics,the mathematics of how cracks propagate under stress,with AI to interpret surface data. The company claims this allows it to model the 'volumetric profile' of damage, converting a 2D image into a fully rendered 3D model of the defect [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024].
This physics-first approach is a deliberate positioning. It speaks directly to the chartered engineers, surveyors, and insurance assessors who are the ultimate buyers. The promise is not just faster analysis, but more credible analysis. The software is designed to slot into existing workflows, accepting data from any inspection source without demanding a rip-and-replace of current systems [Ilosta, retrieved 2026]. For a conservative industry like wind O&M (operations and maintenance), that is often the only viable entry point.
The team and the Glasgow connection
Ilosta is the project of Dr Saber Khayatzadeh, a chartered mechanical engineer and structural integrity specialist who started the company as a solo founder [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024]. The venture has deep roots in the Scottish engineering ecosystem, a fact reflected in its investor base. The company has secured undisclosed funding from a consortium led by Equity Gap, in collaboration with Scottish Enterprise and the University of Strathclyde [LinkedIn, December 2023]. A later strategic investment came from Glacier Energy, an industrial services group with a wind energy arm, signaling a commercial partnership as much as a financial one [Glacier Energy, December 2024].
The leadership has expanded to include Howard Perkins, an experienced tech founder brought on to drive innovation and create value, and Lukasz Zapotoczny, who leads machine learning development [Ilosta, retrieved 2024][Ilosta, retrieved 2026]. With an estimated 2-10 employees, the operation remains lean, but the institutional backing suggests a belief in the technical wedge [6, retrieved 2026].
| Role | Name | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Founder & CEO | Dr Saber Khayatzadeh | Chartered mechanical engineer, structural integrity specialist [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024]. |
| Leadership/Advisor | Howard Perkins | Experienced founder in the tech sector [Ilosta, retrieved 2026]. |
| Machine Learning Engineer | Lukasz Zapotoczny | Leads automated ML and sensor fusion for inspection data [Ilosta, retrieved 2024]. |
Where the unit economics get real
The sales pitch hinges on a drastic compression of time and cost. Traditional statutory inspections for critical infrastructure can involve months of manual data collection, analysis, and reporting. Ilosta claims its approach can reduce this process to days [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024]. For an asset owner, the value is clear: less downtime, lower inspection costs, and more confident life-extension decisions that defer massive capital expenditures.
The initial focus is squarely on wind, but the underlying technology is applicable to any engineered structure. The company lists oil & gas, aerospace, nuclear, and civil engineering as future verticals [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, retrieved 2024]. For now, the beachhead is the growing fleet of offshore wind turbines, where access is difficult, risks are high, and the financial imperative for predictive maintenance is strongest.
- Time to decision. The core value proposition is collapsing a months-long engineering assessment into a software-driven process that takes days.
- Risk quantification. By modeling subsurface damage, the platform aims to replace qualitative 'red/yellow/green' flags with a probabilistic forecast of remaining useful life.
- Integration wedge. Accepting data from any source lowers the adoption barrier for asset owners and service providers like Glacier Energy, who can layer Crack Map™ atop their existing services.
The credibility test
The risks here are not trivial. Ilosta is asking a notoriously slow-to-adopt industry to trust a software's physics judgment over, or at least to heavily augment, human expertise. The algorithm's accuracy is everything; a single high-profile misdiagnosis could stall momentum. Furthermore, while the solo-founder structure is supported by experienced advisors, scaling a deep-tech sales motion into global enterprise accounts will test the team's commercial execution beyond its technical roots.
The most credible near-term pressure, however, may come from the very incumbents Ilosta seeks to augment. Established engineering consultancies and non-destructive testing (NDT) giants have their own digitalization roadmaps. Ilosta's answer appears to be partnership, not displacement. The Glacier Energy deal is the blueprint: become the intelligence layer inside a larger service provider's offering [Glacier Energy, December 2024].
The next twelve months
With strategic capital in place, the next phase is about proving repeatability. The key milestones to watch will be additional service-provider partnerships beyond Glacier, and the landing of a direct marquee asset owner as a customer. The company has signaled plans to grow, which likely means a larger commercial team and potentially a more substantial funding round to fuel that expansion.
The back-of-the-envelope calculation is straightforward. If a traditional blade inspection and engineering assessment for an offshore turbine costs €50,000 and takes three months of downtime and analysis, and Ilosta can do it for €20,000 in three days, the savings compound across a farm of 100 turbines. The real prize, though, is in the life extension. Adding two years of service to a turbine that costs €15 million to replace is an argument that bypasses petty budgeting and goes straight to the CFO.
To succeed, Ilosta must become the trusted standard not for wind farm operators, but for the insurers and engineers who underwrite their risk. Its competition is less another software startup and more the entrenched conservatism of the Lloyd's of London engineering report. That is a harder, slower sell, but the physics, if it holds, is on their side.
Sources
- [LinkedIn, December 2023] Ilosta secures funding from Equity Gap, Scottish Enterprise, University of Strathclyde | https://uk.linkedin.com/company/crackmap
- [Glacier Energy, December 2024] Glacier Energy strategic investment in Ilosta | https://glacierenergy.co.uk/
- [Ilosta, retrieved 2024] Company team page | https://ilosta.com/about/
- [6, retrieved 2026] Ilosta employee count estimate | https://bouncewatch.com/explore/startup/ilosta-crack-map
- [Ilosta, retrieved 2026] Ilosta software and services pages | https://ilosta.com/services/ & https://ilosta.com/software/