WindBorne Systems Raises $6M Seed Round
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WindBorne Systems Inc., a trailblazer in weather and climate technology, recently announced the successful completion of a $6 million seed funding round. The round was spearheaded by Footwork and saw participation from several other investors, including Khosla Ventures, Pear VC, Ubiquity Ventures, Harvest Ventures, and Humba Ventures, among others.
Originating from a research initiative at Stanford Space Initiative, WindBorne Systems specializes in proprietary balloon technology. The company’s innovative approach is designed to address the data gap for nearly 85% of the globe that lacks sufficient weather data.
The company’s technology allows for the collection of 100 times more data per dollar than other existing methods, revolutionizing weather forecasts for various sectors, including airlines, shipping companies, the energy sector, and the general public.
This new round of investment will enable WindBorne Systems to substantially scale its data collection capabilities and facilitate key hires. The company’s core business, which boasts customers from the U.S. military and various private-sector businesses, is already generating positive cash flow.
The weather data gap is a significant and growing issue, with a global need for accurate weather predictions becoming more acute in the face of accelerated global warming. As John Dean, CEO and co-founder of WindBorne, points out, businesses and governments depend on precise weather forecasts for critical decision-making.
However, due to the data deficiency, weather forecasts often prove unreliable. This fresh investment will boost the company’s data collection efforts to help bridge this global weather data gap.
What sets WindBorne Systems apart is its unique solution to the enormous challenge of weather forecasting. The company’s proprietary balloon technology has been under development for years and is a novel approach to tackling this problem.
Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Co-Founder and General Partner at Footwork, expressed excitement about partnering with the WindBorne team, underscoring the uniqueness of their solution.
WindBorne Systems has created a new type of long-endurance, intelligent weather balloon to bridge the data gap and enhance weather forecasts. Unlike traditional weather balloons that collect data for about two hours, WindBorne’s Global Sounding Balloons can fly autonomously for over a month, traversing tens of thousands of miles and collecting critical data to improve weather forecasts.
The company has already demonstrated the feasibility of this approach with its revenue-generating contracts with organizations like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and the National Mesonet Program.
To date, WindBorne Systems has launched more than six hundred balloons. These balloons have been deployed into extreme weather conditions worldwide, including atmospheric rivers, arctic cyclones, and even Hurricane Ian, further testifying to the robustness of their technology.
WindBorne Systems plans to utilize the funding to scale operations, increasing its flights per day to hundreds of concurrent balloons by the end of 2024. The company also aims to expand its sensor suite beyond the typical weather observation sensors – temperature, pressure, wind speed, and humidity.
Ultimately, the company’s vision is to operate tens of thousands of balloons continuously, providing constant, comprehensive atmospheric awareness and dramatically better forecasts.
WindBorne Systems’ mission is to bridge the atmospheric data gap, enabling access to the previously invisible 85% of the atmosphere and using that intelligence to fight climate change.
Footwork, the lead investor in the funding round, is a venture capital firm focusing on early-stage investments. The firm, with its firstfund of $175 million, exclusively leads and co-leads Seed and Series A rounds in technology companies that show early signs of product-market fit.
The story of WindBorne Systems’ successful funding round is a testament to the company’s innovative approach and the increasing global need for better weather data.
The investment will undoubtedly aid the company’s mission to provide the world with more accurate weather forecasts and data, potentially transforming various industries and contributing significantly to the fight against climate change.
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