UrtheCast

UrtheCast (pronounced “EarthCast”) is a satellite imaging company developing world-first technologies in data services, geoanalytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The insights we provide allow customers in multiple industries to track long-term trends, monitor change, and take guided, strategic actions to better serve their customers. In 2022, UrtheCast plans to launch UrtheDaily, the world’s first earth observation system designed from the ground-up to produce scientific-quality, analytics-ready imagery of the entire earth's landmass every day. Early in 2019, UrtheCast acquired Geosys – bringing more than 30 years of experience in agricultural analysis of satellite and weather data. The team’s global geo-information services range from crops monitoring and benchmarking for risk management, to precision farming and grain marketing support. Combining Geosys’ services with the resolution, revisit, and data quality of the UrtheDaily constellation will open the door to machine learning and AI opportunities never before seen in agriculture.

UrtheCast was a Canadian Earth observation company that provided satellite imagery and data analytics services. Their key offerings included imagery from the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, which were part of their "virtual constellation" along with data from partnership agreements. In December 2017, they established agreements to mutually distribute imagery with SI Imaging Service's Kompsat fleet and Beijing Space View Technology's SuperView constellation. UrtheCast also processed and distributed imagery from 13 sensors for the PanGeo Alliance.

UrtheCast and South Korea’s SI Imaging Service ink distribution agreement

Spanish Company Deimos Imaging Declares Bankruptcy

Canadian companies cover new ground with Earth-observation technology

Canadian startup EarthDaily, spun out of UrtheCast insolvency a year ago, means business

Deriving insights from uncommon data streams

Alternative Data

Optical imagery-focused EarthDaily Analytics emerges from UrtheCast

UrtheCast was a Canadian Earth observation company that provided satellite imagery and data analytics services. Their key offerings included imagery from the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, which were part of their "virtual constellation" along with data from partnership agreements. In December 2017, they established agreements to mutually distribute imagery with SI Imaging Service's Kompsat fleet and Beijing Space View Technology's SuperView constellation. UrtheCast also processed and distributed imagery from 13 sensors for the PanGeo Alliance.
The company had plans to launch the OptiSAR constellation of eight optical and eight synthetic aperture radar satellites, as well as the UrtheDaily optical system, with the first two OptiSAR satellites and UrtheDaily expected to be operational by 2020. However, UrtheCast faced financial difficulties and declared bankruptcy in March 2021, leading to the insolvency of its subsidiaries Deimos Imaging and Dot Imaging.
In April 2021, the Earth observation startup EarthDaily Analytics was spun out from UrtheCast's insolvency by private equity firm Antarctica Capital. EarthDaily Analytics positioned itself as a data processing and analytics company, inheriting UrtheCast's plans for a constellation of nine Earth observation satellites with the first three planned for launch in July 2023.

Neudata is a leading fintech firm that provides data intelligence services to asset managers, private equity firms, venture capitalists, consultancies, and corporations globally. It specializes in scouting, sourcing, and evaluating alternative datasets across various industries and domains. Neudata's core offering is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that houses a catalogue of over 6,900 dataset reports, enabling users to search, manage, and compare data sources effectively.
The company's strength lies in its unbiased and objective approach to data assessment, as it does not buy, sell, or take commissions from data vendors. Instead, Neudata evaluates datasets based on over 100 unique factors and delivers metadata reports and advice to clients for a fee. This neutral stance ensures that clients receive tailored intelligence aligned with their specific strategies and goals.
In addition to its SaaS platform, Neudata provides expert insights through its team of data scouting professionals based in London, New York, and Shanghai. The company also offers a service called AltDating, which facilitates connections between data buyers and sellers, streamlining the process of finding and acquiring relevant datasets.
Neudata has expanded its offerings to include specialized products like Neudata Scout ESG, launched in February 2022. This tool helps organizations identify and manage alternative data sources related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, enabling them to comply with regulations and build their own ESG evaluation models.
The company has established itself as a prominent player in the alternative data ecosystem, hosting influential events like the London Data Summit, where industry leaders gather to explore the past, present, and future of data. Neudata's commitment to innovation and its collaborative approach have positioned it as a trusted partner for firms seeking to unlock the value of alternative data.

Neudata

Orbital Insight is a leading geospatial intelligence company that provides AI-powered analytics solutions to help organizations gain insights and understand trends from geospatial data. The company's flagship product, the Orbital Insight Go platform, combines multiple data sources such as satellite imagery, anonymized location data, ship GPS, and IoT data to deliver actionable insights through machine learning algorithms. Orbital Insight's technology enables customers across various industries, including government agencies, corporations, and non-profits, to monitor supply chains, analyze land use patterns, detect illegal activities, and make data-driven decisions.
In February 2022, Orbital Insight secured a contract from the US Department of Defense to develop a platform for identifying intentional Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) interference and manipulation operations worldwide. This technology leverages the company's multisensor data stack and AI capabilities to alert analysts about potential jamming and spoofing events, presenting risks to national security and commercial operations.
Orbital Insight has established partnerships with leading Earth observation companies like Satellogic to enhance its data capabilities. In April 2022, the company announced plans to integrate Satellogic's high-resolution satellite imagery and full-motion video into its platform, providing customers with access to higher quality data, improved revisit rates, and lower-cost analytics.

Orbital Insight

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 Planet is a startup based in San Francisco and founded by former NASA employees that collects information about its changing planet via a fleet of compact, highly capable Earth-imaging satellites. The broad coverage and high frequency of Planet's satellite imagery will enable customers with unprecedented access to global and local insights that currently are either impossible or cost-prohibitive to obtain. It designs, builds, and operates the largest fleet of satellites, as well as online software, tools, and analytics needed to deliver data to users. Planet offers a diverse selection of imagery and analytic solutions, all made available online through our platform and web-based tools. They provide geospatial insights at the speed of change, equipping users with the data necessary to make informed, timely decisions. In addition to California, Planet has offices in Germany and Canada where they deliver market-leading geospatial imagery to a global network of customers and partners in over 100 countries. The Planet's mission is to image the entire Earth every day and make global change visible, accessible, and actionable.
 
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Planet Labs

Premise is a market intelligence platform that enables organizations to obtain real-time, granular insights from a global network of contributors. By blending machine learning with human intelligence, the company's proprietary methodology allows clients to gather and analyze local insights quickly and efficiently from almost anywhere in the world.
Premise transforms client questions into tasks distributed through its mobile app marketplace. Contributors perform these tasks, capturing data through images, surveys, or on-site observations. The collected data undergoes rigorous quality control, including location verification, image analysis, and fraud detection algorithms, ensuring accuracy and reliability. Verified insights are then presented to clients through customized dashboards or exported in various formats for integration into existing systems.
Premise caters to diverse industries, including consumer goods companies, international development organizations, and public sector entities. Its solutions provide actionable intelligence for execution monitoring, consumer behavior analysis, community understanding, and supply chain optimization. With a global reach spanning over 140 countries, the company facilitates data collection from even the most challenging regions.
Premise distinguishes itself through rapid insights gathering, unparalleled data granularity, and stringent quality assurance measures. As of 2024, the company recorded over 25 million submissions per year, garnering trust from industry leaders.

Premise

PriceStats is a company that specializes in transforming data into meaningful tools for economic analysis. The company's primary focus is on developing global, real-time economic statistics using online data. PriceStats produces daily inflation statistics and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) series, which are utilized by various financial institutions and policymakers worldwide. The company's technology leverages online retail prices to reveal offline street price changes, often weeks before official numbers reflect inflation trends. This approach allows for more timely and accurate economic insights, potentially enabling policymakers to better prepare for economic fluctuations.
PriceStats has continuously expanded its product offerings since its inception in September 2010. The company has developed inflation series for numerous countries, including the US, UK, Brazil, Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, Poland, and China, among others. In addition to country-specific inflation indices, PriceStats also produces global inflation series, including World Inflation, Food Inflation, and Fuel Inflation series. The company launched its PPP Series in May 2014, providing charts on real exchange rates, relative prices, and over/undervaluation for various countries compared to the US dollar. In January 2024, PriceStats released the China Aggregate Inflation Series, further expanding its coverage of major economies.
Key customers and partnerships
PriceStats distributes its daily inflation statistics and PPP series through an exclusive partnership with State Street Global Markets and State Street Global Exchange. This partnership, established in May 2011, brings PriceStats' indices to the financial sector. Target clients include hedge funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other financial institutions interested in accessing high-frequency inflation and PPP measures. State Street provides access to these indices through its proprietary research website, Insights.
In addition to its commercial partnerships, PriceStats has demonstrated a commitment to social responsibility. Since early 2020, the company has provided its indicators for free to 16 central banks worldwide to help navigate the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2022, PriceStats began distributing its Global Food Inflation series to the public on a complimentary basis through its partnership with State Street, aiming to assist policymakers in addressing rapidly rising food prices and supply shortages driven by global events. The company has also collaborated with statistical offices, offering item-level data free of charge to institutions such as the UK Office for National Statistics and the Central Statistics Office of Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic.

PriceStats

Generated by sensors. Satellite imagery captures objects on the ground (e.g., cars in a parking lot and ships at a port), lights, pollution, and particulate matter in the air.

Generated by sensors. Collected by a variety of sensors and has many uses including agriculture and other commodities sensitive to the weather.

Generated by sensors. Data gathered from the GPS, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth signals on mobile phones or other electronic devices, which can be used to track consumer movement such as high footfall areas, time spent at specific locations, and routes.

Generated by individuals. Includes website usage (e.g., time spent on a website, actions, and volume of queries), mobile app usage, social sentiment (based on social media posts, news, videos, and online interactions on social media), product reviews, and surveys.

Generated by individuals. E-receipts gathered from consumers on an opt-in basis provide data on user purchases and product demand. Data are anonymized and provided to corporations for targeted marketing.

Generated by businesses. Credit/debit card transaction and POS system data are structured and sought after and are used to track retail and business spending (e.g., sales volumes and prices).

Generated by businesses. Data sources used to assess consumers' creditworthiness such as income and employment information, consumer banking data, payments to specialty lenders, utilities payments, rental payments, and peer-to-peer lending records. Other data types include local prices, business banking records, commercial transactions (e.g., shipping container receipts), supply chain data, and government and corporation data.

Firms that acquire individual data streams and bundle them for sale to investors or structure/analyze the data to create data products for sale to investors.

Alternative data personalizes products/services by leveraging geolocation, social media, and transaction data for businesses

UrtheCast

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