Techstars is a global platform that provides investment and innovation. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program supercharges success and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in innovative and disruptive companies. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands create products and services. Techstars' accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $8.1 billion.

Techstars

Synovia Capital focuses on ecosystem management in the data analytics sector.

Synovia Capital

Cultivation Capital is a venture capital firm that manages a family of funds focused on early-stage investing. Most of our initial investments are during a startup’s Seed or Series A phase, and our initial checks range from $500k – $3.5M. Our industries of focus include life sciences and health tech, software and IT, agriculture tech, and geospatial tech.

Cultivation Capital

Social Venture Fund, an impact investment fund at the University of Michigan, finances companies based on social and environmental impact.

Social Venture Fund

The Yield Lab invests in AgriFood Tech companies with technologies focused on crops, animal health, digital agriculture, logistics, and food ingredients. Initial investments range from $100,000 – $1.5M.

The Yield Lab

Global investor in big ideas with the potential for positive impact & exponential growth

Expon Capital

SpaceFund invests in visionary yet practical high-growth startups addressing the multi-billion dollar space markets that will both enable and benefit from the space revolution. We don’t invest in “aerospace” and we don’t chase “swarms” of satellites or drones. We largely avoid rockets (but we might invest in space transportation) and we don’t invest in weapons.  We value integrity, humility, and pragmatism – even as we seek out the nimble, bold, and innovative. We also don’t “fire and forget” when it comes to investing. We nurture, cultivate, and support our portfolio companies through every stage of their development.

SpaceFund

Venture capital firm that invests in tech and tech-enabled companies. The firm has unique expertise in building leading software companies, generating substantial revenue through on and offline customer acquisition, and in marketing in general. AUM ~$20M in 2022

Santa Barbara Venture Partners

Industrious Ventures invests in founders and teams that transform industries by reconstructing how their respective value chains work. The firm invests over extended periods and concentrates on advancements in space, national defense, production, and other associated industries.

Industrious Ventures

Freeflow is a venture firm focused on making pre-seed and seed-stage investments in new companies working to solve complex problems in human and planetary health, and which have a direct connection to the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (“JPL”), an operating division of Caltech, in Pasadena, CA.   The GPs are David Fleck and Kevin Barrett, two longtime technology, life sciences and healthcare industry veterans who bring more than 50 combined years of technology and healthcare industry experience.   Fred Wilson (Union Square Ventures), Chris Farmer (SignalFire) and Chris Douvos (Ahoy) represent the board of advisors and are also investors.  To date our syndicate partners include: 8VC, Sequoia, Coatue, Catalio Capital Management, Nexus Venture Partners, OrbiMed, Embark Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Hillhouse Capital, Cultivation Capital, Techstars, Synovia Capital, Heritage, Wilson Hill, and Caltech.

Freeflow Ventures

OTB Ventures is a leading European VC focused on DeepTech with an unfair advantage in accessing Central and Eastern European (CEE) deal flow, investing in early growth, real tech startups (late Seed, Series A and B) that develop unique technologies in 4 verticals: SpaceTech, AI & Automation, FinTech and Cybersecurity OTB Ventures was established in 2017 and is currently the largest VC originating from the CEE, managing over $300M. OTB Ventures has two offices: Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Warsaw (Poland).

OTB Ventures

SK Ventures is a venture capital investor focused on the energy transition and climate tech. They partner with exceptional founders in early- and growth-stage start-ups in Europe and North America. With offices in Germany and Norway and backed by Statkraft, Europe's largest producer of renewable energy, SK Ventures provides capital and expertise to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future.

Statkraft Ventures

Hartree Partners is a merchant commodities firm specializing in energy and its associated industries.

Hartree Partners

Blue Bear Capital is a venture capital investor supporting companies that apply AI and data-driven technologies to energy infrastructures. The firm specializes in the fields of venture capital, financial services, and clean energy investments. It was founded in 2016 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Blue Bear Capital

Hemisphere Ventures is an investment firm that focuses on achieving scale and identifying early revenue opportunities for the advancement in synthetic biology, robotics, drones, and space.  Founded in 2014, Hemisphere Ventures is headquartered in Mckinney, Texas.

Hemisphere Ventures

Hydrosat

Hydrosat is a climate tech company that was founded to help Earth manage its most valuable resource: water. Hydrosat leverages the unique capabilities of thermal imagery from space to measure water stress in agriculture and enhance food security, public safety and the environment. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.

Hydrosat is a geospatial data analytics company that uses thermal infrared imagery to monitor ground temperatures from space. This data could be used to track global warming patterns as well as catastrophic incidents like wildfires. In addition, the infrared sensors are used for crop yield forecasting and irrigation optimization, among other things.&nbsp;

Climate Risk Analytics

Hydrosat extends reach in Latin America

Hydrosat is a geospatial data analytics company that uses thermal infrared imagery to monitor ground temperatures from space. This data could be used to track global warming patterns as well as catastrophic incidents like wildfires. In addition, the infrared sensors are used for crop yield forecasting and irrigation optimization, among other things.&nbsp;In May 2023, Hydrosat&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19286">acquired</a> IrriWatch, a Netherlands-based irrigation management software provider, to leverage the latter’s proprietary space imagery technology into Hydrosat’s crop forecasting.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsHydrosat’s first commercial satellite, “VanZyl-1,” with a thermal infrared camera, was launched in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32787">August 2024</a>, via a SpaceX Falcon 9 in collaboration with Loft Orbital, a space services provider. In August 2022, Hydrosat completed the critical design review (CDR) for its innovative VanZyl-1 satellite with ABB. Hydrosat has signed contracts with the European Space Agency and three SBIR contracts with the US Airforce and the Department of Defense.The company has entered into several contracts with agricultural and environmental companies to provide geospatial data. Hydrosat also plans to scale up toward the commercial sector from its existing focus on the agriculture industry.&nbsp;

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.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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.&nbsp;

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 2024, Jupiter worked with 25% of the world's largest companies including 15% of the Global 100, two of the largest banks in the US, and 50% of the largest lenders in the US. The company 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.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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&nbsp;<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&nbsp;<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&nbsp;<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, Astra Zeneca, JLL, Orsted, Shell 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. In July 2021, 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.In April 2024, the ClimateAI launched its ClimateLens Monitor Yield Outlook. This solution offers climate-driven yield forecasts for several commodity crops, including corn, potato, canola, oats, hops, soybeans, sorghum, wheat and barley, and also provides insights on the climate factors driving the variability.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the company had worked with over 50 food and agricultural companies to provide seasonal and sub-seasonal weather forecasts and agronomic risk expertise.&nbsp;

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.&nbsp;Floodbase also offers a Global Flood Database, a free and an open-sourced platform, which has mapped over 900 flood events across 169 countries globally as of August 2024.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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&nbsp;<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&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24786">Oneglobal</a>, a UK-based insurance broker, to provide flood insurance solutions for the Asian market.&nbsp;In January 2024, the company partnered with&nbsp;<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&nbsp;<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.&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

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 Hydrosat, a company specializing in geospatial data analytics, has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant worth USD 650,000 from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This funding is intended to support initiatives in climate monitoring.
 The financial support will allow for the expansion of Hydrosat's collaboration with NOAA, further validating their technology. This technology aims to incorporate commercial satellite-based insights and actionable climate information into the weather data market.
</div> Analyst QuickTake: 
 This latest NOAA grant funding follows the company’s recent launch of <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/32787"> VanZyl-1 </a> , its first commercial satellite equipped with a thermal infrared camera, in August 2024. The satellite will provide high-resolution thermal imagery to improve agricultural productivity and climate modeling. Hydrosat is also involved in other key projects with the National Reconnaissance Office and the US Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center.&nbsp;

Hydrosat

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