Disaster analyst secures VC funding for global expansion
A West Midlands company which provides data on natural disasters has secured new venture capital funding to support its global expansion.
Geospatial Insight, based in Coleshill, analyses satellite imagery and other data sources in near real-time following floods, earthquakes and severe tropical storms and other catastrophic events to the finance, business intelligence and insurance sectors.
The information is used by the firms to support their event loss estimation and claims analysis.
The data analysis includes the prediction of crop yields to combat food shortages in the developing world, tracking industrial and agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and illegal deforestation to enforce laws designed to combat the acceleration of climate change.
The funding injection, which the firm will use to expand its machine learning technology and new information product streams, has been provided by venture capital firm, VenturesOne.
The company has also grown its workforce to 15.
The funding follows an initial investment by Midven, the Birmingham-based venture capital company, in December 2014. The original investment was provided by the £18.4m Exceed Partnership Fund.
The latest funding sees Rafael Aldon, director at VenturesOne Asia, join the Geospatial Insights board.
He said: “As venture investors, we see a lot of tech companies, and we were hugely impressed by Geospatial Insights’ technical capability and customer-centric approach.
“Insight accuracy and timeliness are critical buying factors for customers who are now discovering the game-changing impact visual intelligence can play. In this field, Geospatial Insight is second to none, and we’re excited to be working together to create a global market leader.”
David Fox, CEO of Geospatial Insight, added: “With a presence in The Netherlands and Singapore, VenturesOne is the ideal partner as we continue to scale our business globally. We’re excited to have a partner on board that not only provides us with growth capital, but also access to strategic connections in our core markets, such as insurance and financial services both in Europe and Asia.”
