First Star partners with entrepreneurs solving real-world problems using data and machine learning, focusing on applications of frontier technologies such as AI, computational biotech, connected sensors, AR/VR, and blockchain. We believe in investing with conviction in visionary, technical founders inventing the future. Drawing on our experience and network of strategic partners across industries and regions, we help startups think big and grow fast.

First Star Ventures

Wireframe Ventures is a venture capital firm investing at the seed and pre-seed stage. We back missionary founders using technology to positively impact people & planet.

Wireframe Ventures

powerHouse is a New Zealand intellectual property commercialisation company using private and public investment to develop new spin-out ventures sourced primarily from research partners such as universities and Crown Research Institutes.  A pioneer of seed-stage investment in New Zealand, powerHouse focuses on the earliest stages of new high-value technology development.  Unlike incubators that offer general business services to any innovative companies, powerHouse is extremely focused and selective.  It rigorously screens each opportunity to identify those with the strongest intellectual property value and the greatest potential to gain an unfair advantage in global markets.  powerHouse then invests in these companies, sourced from powerHouse's annual seed-stage fund and co-investment.  powerHouse also runs an innovation education programme for studdents and organisations.

Powerhouse Ventures

Our experienced investors work closely with the Munich Re Group businesses across the globe to fund and partner with the best emerging companies that are developing new technologies and business models – and risks – for tomorrow’s world. As one of the global providers of reinsurance, primary insurance and insurance-related risk solutions, Munich Re is uniquely positioned to help the world adopt new innovations by transferring the risks from invention and by developing solutions for loss prevention.  As strategic investors, Munich Re Ventures provides capital and guidance to current and future Munich Re partners who are creating the world around us. We invest out of three funds with the Munich Re Group companies as Limited Partners: the Munich Re Fund for the Reinsurance Group, the HSB Fund for specialty insurer Hartford Steam Boiler, and the ERGO Fund for European and Asian primary insurer ERGO. With Munich Re’s strong balance sheet, flexibility and vast insurance and industry relationships, these businesses provide value to our investments from day one. Whether de-risking the go-to-market strategy for an early stage renewable energy technology provider company or providing insurance capacity for a startup offering a new type of insurance for autonomous vehicles, our businesses deliver innovative solutions in an ever-changing world.

Munich Re Ventures

Blindspot Ventures is a seed focused venture capital fund based in Boston, backing cross vertical infrastructure and platform technologies We partner with contrarian founders building disruptive new solutions to reshape the growth of their respective industries

Blindspot Ventures

Endeavor8 is an early stage tech innovation impacting food value chain.

Endeavor8

EIC Rose Rock invests in early-stage startups.

EIC Rose Rock

Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems.

Salient

Salient creates a weather intelligence platform that combines novel ocean and land-surface data with machine learning and climate expertise to provide accurate subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) weather forecasts 2 to 52 weeks ahead. Salient's tools sift through large datasets to identify complex climate system relationships in order to provide accurate forecasts used in agriculture, energy, finance, supply chain, and other industries. Salient utilizes scientific knowledge to assist individuals and organizations in better understanding and preparing for the increasing volatility of climate change.

Salient Predictions combines ocean and land-surface data with AI and machine learning to provide weather forecasts up to one to 52 weeks in advance. The company claims that the accuracy of its forecasts are 2x higher than competing solutions. The company’s subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasts are issued weekly, and long-range forecasts are issued monthly.

Climate Risk Analytics

Salient Predictions

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Salient Predictions combines ocean and land-surface data with AI and machine learning to provide weather forecasts up to one to 52 weeks in advance. The company claims that the accuracy of its forecasts are 2x higher than competing solutions. The company’s subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasts are issued weekly, and long-range forecasts are issued monthly.Key customers and partnershipsThe company is a spin-off from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and MIT. Salient’s climate insights are widely adopted across agricultural, chemical, energy, and supply chain companies. In September 2022, the company launched a new suite of weather metrics for the agriculture sector. This includes parameters such as soil moisture, surface runoff, and frost and drought risk indices, which allows agriculture and food producers to plan ahead for future weather and supply chain disruptions.In February 2022, Salient signed a commercial agreement with BASF, to provide the latter's customers with long-range and seasonal weather forecasts.Funding and financialsThe company’s most recent funding was in May 2022, when it raised USD 5.3 million in a seed funding round led by Wireframe Ventures. The funding round was also supported by Munich Re Ventures. The funds were to be utilized to scale up its technology offering. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21606">September 2023</a>, Salient received an undisclosed Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22663">October 2023</a>, it secured a grant of USD 2.9 million from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation to provide weather predictions for smallholder farmers in East Africa.

Tomorrow.io (formerly called ClimaCell) is a short-term weather analytics platform, serving businesses across a wide range of industries, including aviation, energy, insurance, on-demand companies, professional sports and venues, and logistics, as well as government agencies globally.The company’s proprietary Weather and Climate Security platform uses machine learning to translate hyperlocal forecasts into actionable insights for business decision-making. The platform aggregates real-time data from existing numerical weather prediction models to provide customized climate risk dashboards and alerts for businesses using AI and machine learning. Tomorrow.io’s key value proposition is its five-day advanced warning on adverse weather.In May 2023, the company launched its first satellite, Tomorrow-R1, the world’s first commercially built weather-radar satellite. Tomorrow.io launched a second satellite (R2) in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19726">June 2023 </a>. This makes Tomorrow.io the first company to launch precipitation radar-equipped satellites following NASA’s GPM satellite.Key customers and partnershipsTomorrow.io was serving 1,000+ customers as of November 2022, which included some high-profile clients such as Microsoft, Uber Technologies, Ford Motor Company, Delta Airlines, JetBlue Airways, National Grid and the U.S. Air Force.Funding and financialsTomorrow.io’s most recent funding was in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19726">June 2023 </a>, when it raised USD 87 million in a Series E funding round led by Activate Capital. The funds were used to launch the complete constellation of 20 satellites. In March 2021, Tomorrow.io raised USD 77 million in a Series D funding round led by Stonecourt Capital, to launch more radar-equipped satellites and to improve the company's overall product offering.

Tomorrow.io

Climavision offers an AI-powered radar-as-a-service solution to provide real-time weather prediction models and analytics. Climavision was a spin-off of Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC), a weather radar and satellite service provider. The company develops a private network of weather radars and satellites to fill in the coverage gaps across existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Weather Service (NWS) systems. This reportedly allows Climavision to collect additional data points to provide more accurate weather predictions than those solutions that only use legacy weather data.Climavision’s product offering includes Radar-As-A-Service (RaaS), Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS Radio Occultation (RO), and Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS-RO+ Radar. 1) RaaS provides real-time weather data, via Climavision's proprietary sensing network. 2) Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS-RO is a numerical weather prediction model. 3) Numerical Weather Prediction with GPS-RO+ Radar leverages the real-time power of Climavision’s sensing network. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21793">September 2023</a>, Climavision installed its weather X-Band weather radar system in Alabama, to fill a low-level coverage gap in the Appalachian Plateau region. &nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30169">June 2024</a>, the company launched a new product suite called Horizon AI to support the renewable energy sector. The suite improves the accuracy and scope of forecasting models by integrating machine learning and AI-based tools.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30156">May 2024</a>, Climavision acquired Intersphere, a sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) weather forecasting platform (up to a year in advance), to enhance AI-powered weather prediction.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2022, the company partnered with GE Digital, a provider of machine data to produce analytics and insights, to support the latter’s customers, improve their weather prediction ability, and better plan for severe storm events. Previously, in February 2022, the company added Cargill, a food and agricultural company to its customer portfolio.In June 2021, Climavision also entered into a strategic collaboration with GeoOptics, an Earth remote-sensing provider, to improve its weather forecasting solutions.Funding and financialsClimavision’s most recent funding round was in June 2021, when it raised USD 100 million in a Series A funding round led by The Rise Fund.

Climavision

Jupiter Intelligence provides climate risk analytics solutions across private and public sectors by incorporating AI and machine learning for predictive climate modeling. Jupiter covers a range of natural disasters such as flood, wind, heat, cold, wildfire, drought and water stress, hail, and extreme precipitation.As of November 2022, the company offered its solutions across 30+ companies in the Global 2000, US Department of Defense, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Jupiter serves across 20 sectors including banking, chemicals, insurance, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and construction and provides customers with access to nearly 150 trillion data fields using cloud-based supercomputing. The company offers its risk analytics solutions via web-based applications, reports, through an API, and consulting engagements.Jupiter’s ClimateScore Intelligence Platform claims to predict natural disasters from one-hour to 50+ years in advance. The company also offers a ClimateScore Planning suite, which includes FloodScore, HeatScore, WindScore, FireScore and ClimateScore Global solutions for climate risk assessment. As of November 2022, Jupiter’s platform was priced at USD 1 million per year and upward.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2022, the company partnered with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to incorporate Jupiter’s climate analytics into BCG’s ClimateImpact.AI platform. In August 2022, Jupiter collaborated with Aon, a professional services firm, to address climate change for financial institutions’ balance sheets, identification of climate risks, and quantification of climate-related disclosure regulations. In January 2023, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15706">FORVIS </a>, an accounting and advisory company, to develop a climate risk modeling tool. In March 2024, Jupiter entered into a strategic agreement with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27657">Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) </a>, an NYSE-listed real estate and investment management company, to provide AI-powered climate risk analytics for properties and portfolios. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33631">September 2024</a>, the company partnered with DNV, an assurance and risk management provider, to launch climate-driven hail risk service for solar PV across North America.&nbsp;Jupiter’s customers include Hawaiian Electric, Zurich, conEdison, bp, Liberty Mutual, QBE, MS&amp;AS Insurance, Terna, Bephila, New York City, City of Miami, NASA, and US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Jupiter Intelligence

ClimateAi provides climate risk modeling solutions across global supply chains. The company states that its digital platform monitors short-term, seasonal, and long-term climate risks, ranging from one day to 50+ years into the future. ClimateAi’s proprietary AI modeling platform optimizes supply chain operations from production planning, demand estimation, and inventory management to ensure minimum climate disruption across supply chains. The company also launched its Enterprise Climate Planning (ECP) platform, to quantify climate impacts and provide business-specific insights in order to mitigate climate risks across supply chains.Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2022, the company was working with 20+ food and agricultural companies across 35 countries.Funding and financialsClimateAi’s most recent funding was in April 2023, when it raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17753">USD 22 million </a>in a Series B funding round led by Four Rivers Group. Previously in July 2021, the company raised USD 12 million in a Series A funding round led by Radical Ventures. The proceeds were utilized to expand its platform offering from existing food and agricultural companies to other industry supply chains. Part of the funds were also used to expand the company’s geographical footprint across India and Japan.

ClimateAi

Floodbase (formerly Cloud to street (C2S)) is a flood intelligence platform powered by satellites, machine learning, and on-the-ground observation data to track flood-events in real time. The company’s proprietary satellite imagery, historical data, and flood modeling provide governments and insurance companies with precise data to monitor people and assets at risk, identify blocked roads, and measure property and agricultural damage. The company utilizes 15 satellites to gather flood data.Floodbase also offers a Global Flood Database, a free and an open-sourced platform, which has mapped nearly 913 flood events across 169 countries globally as of November 2022.Key customers and partnershipsFloodbase supported 28 governments and institutions as of November 2022. The company’s customers include WillisRe, an insurance subsidiary of Willis Towers Watson. WillisRe adopted C2S’s platform to optimize its actuarial models in markets like Indonesia.In June 2022, the company partnered with two parametric insurance platforms, Raincoat and Munich Re Group, to deploy the world’s first parametric flood insurance program. Since then, Raincoat has leveraged Floodbase’s flood data to develop a platform that allows payouts to insured farmers within days of a disaster. In October 2023, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates?industryIds=124">Ag Guard </a>to provide parametric flood insurance programs for farmers and governments in Australia and New Zealand in 2024. In December 2023, Floodbase collaborated with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24786">Oneglobal </a>, a UK-based insurance broker, to provide flood insurance solutions for the Asian market. In January 2024, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25834">Capella Space</a>,, a space tech firm, to leverage high-resolution satellite data for parametric insurance payouts. In August 2024, Floodbase partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32691">Amwins</a>, a specialty insurance distributor, to launch the Tees-to-Green flood insurance program for US golf courses, and in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34663">October 2024</a> launched a flood insurance program for California municipalities.Funding and financialsThe company’s most recent funding was in January 2023, when it raised USD 12 million in a Series A funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital, alongside participation from Collaborative Fund, Floating Point, and Vidavo.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Floodbase

Forecasts weather for up to 14 days by using AI/ ML solutions

Forecasts weather for up to 14 days by using other next-generation solutions

Forecasts long-term climate risks (for up to ~50-80 years into the future) by using AI/ ML solutions

Forecasts long-term climate risks (for up to ~50-80 years into the future) by using other next-generation solutions

Provides long-term climate risk analytics to cover the gap in traditional insurance products

Provides climate risk scores for third-parties

Uses AI/ML tools to forecast climate risks for up to ~50–80 years

Provides tools to identify future hazards to protect industries like agri and insurance

DISRUPTOR_PRESENT

Salient Predictions has received a $2.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide weather predictions to smallholder farmers in East Africa. The funding will be used to develop actionable weather predictions by integrating data from ground-based weather stations. The goal is to help farmers adapt to climate change and boost agricultural productivity. This grant follows a previous grant received by Salient from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in September 2023.

Salient Predictions

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