US satellite imagery startup Orbital Insight has raised US$8.7m in a Series A funding round to develop its artificial intelligence-based analysis tools. The round was led by early stage investor Sequoia Capital, which had previously provided US$1.5m in…
US satellite imagery startup Orbital Insight has raised US$8.7m in a Series A funding round to develop its artificial intelligence-based analysis tools.
The round was led by early stage investor Sequoia Capital, which had previously provided US$1.5m in seed funding. Other investors included Google Ventures, Lux Capital, Bloomberg Beta, and citizen.vc.
Orbital Insight aims to use neural networks, machine learning, and statistical analysis to process satellite imagery for customers ranging from hedge funds to government agencies. Its products so far include tools for predicting the size of a crop harvest, and for creating quarterly retail performance forecasts based on counting cars in parking lots.
It was founded in 2013 by James Crawford, an AI expert who has worked at Google as well as NASA, where he was head of autonomy and robotics at the US space agency’s Ames Research Center.
“We are looking at the world in a new way by processing millions of satellite images at a time and analysing them using neural networks and other techniques,” Crawford said.
“This ‘macroscope’ can help all kinds of companies better understand their industry, context, and future.”
The group is seeking to capitalise on the growing trend towards ‘big data’, which has spawned a number of satellite imagery operators such as Google-owned Skybox Imaging and Planet Labs. It said the convergence of more powerful analysis tools with increasingly robust AI algorithms have also laid the groundwork for the company.
The new funding will be used for hiring engineers and a small sales team.
Sequoia’s other early stage partnerships include Google in 1999 and YouTube in 2005. In aggregate, it claims Sequoia-backed companies account for more than 20% of NASDAQ’s total value.
