US satellite imagery start-up OmniEarth has bought local geospatial solutions firm IRISmaps in a stock-for-stock deal as it looks to launch its first bird in 2016.
The acquisition comes shortly after the group raised US$1m in an angel funding round to…
US satellite imagery start-up OmniEarth has bought local geospatial solutions firm IRISmaps in a stock-for-stock deal as it looks to launch its first bird in 2016.
The acquisition comes shortly after the group raised US$1m in an angel funding round to help build out a US$250m constellation of 18 spacecraft. It is now embarking on a Series A round.
In the run up to the launch of its first satellite in early 2016, OmniEarth has been using public data from in-orbit satellites to grow a customer base for the analytical services it has been developing over the past two years. It booked its first revenues from this business in May.
OmniEarth CEO Lars Dyrud said IRIS’ portfolio includes asset and environmental monitoring products that have been deployed at major agriculture and energy companies, and in the public sector, providing a natural fit for OmniEarth’s initial business targets.
“The capabilities they bring will enable OmniEarth to deliver our value-added data stream to subscribers as soon as our constellation goes live,” said Dyrud.
“IRIS also brings a portfolio of off-the-shelf products that provide the customer focused analytics platform that is crucial for turning data into insight.”
The group aims to deliver solutions to inform all phases of energy exploration and development, such as high consequence area monitoring and thermal steam cycle analysis.
OmniEarth is primarily being funded by Dyrud and strategic investments from the group’s industrial partners, which include nonprofit research firm Draper Laboratory and mid-tier manufacturer Dynetics. Harris’ space solutions business has also partnered with the group and has been tasked with selling hosted payload space.
The start-up plans to leverage on rideshare opportunities to place a further five satellites in Q4 2016, while the remaining 12 will be launched on a mix of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets and rideshares. It aims to have the entire constellation up and fully operational by Q1 2018.
