WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 29, 2023 - Impact Observatory, a leader in AI-powered global mapping and monitoring, announced today that its seed funding round has closed, raising more than $5.9M. The funding will help accelerate Impact Observatory’s go-to-market for its AI-powered monitoring products for governments and commercial customers. The funding will also support ongoing research and development (R&D) to build additional monitoring capabilities utilizing the full spectrum of commercial space-based data sources.

The latest round included investment by Esri International LLC, an affiliate of Esri, the global leader in mapping and location intelligence. Impact Observatory’s maps are being released via Esri, Microsoft, Amazon, and the UN, and have been accessed over one million times.

“Companies that understand their environmental and climate impacts and can anticipate risks are starting to see significant rewards from investors, consumers, and regulators concerned about long term sustainability and climate change resiliency,” said Steve Brumby, Co-founder and CEO of Impact Observatory. “Impact Observatory’s AI-powered monitoring platform provides the timely, actionable data needed for decision makers to fulfill their sustainability initiatives.”

Impact Observatory’s data-as-a-service (DaaS) product seamlessly integrates space data and deep learning AI to map our changing world with the highest resolution and accuracy on the market. This novel data provides powerful insights that empower decision makers with the tools they need to to understand sustainability and environmental risks and anticipate change at unprecedented speed and scale, enabling customers to:

• Plan for sustainable livelihoods and food security: Impact Observatory monitors the health and impact of agriculture, and urban expansion, across an entire country or regional watershed.
• Protect carbon and reduce climate change: Impact Observatory algorithms enable more accurate measurement of carbon in changing landscapes and show the value of forests and wetlands that store carbon, protect coastal communities from disasters, and ensure clean water supplies.
• Protect and Restore biodiversity and ecosystem services: Impact Observatory data tracks environmental trends, threats, and the impact of actions to reduce biodiversity loss and maintain the clean food and water that healthy ecosystems provide.

The Impact Observatory team developed deep learning AI to create the first fully automated, high resolution map of the world, in near real time, released by Impact Observatory in partnership with Esri and Microsoft Azure Planetary Computer. An independent, peer-reviewed scientific study found that Impact Observatory’s map is the most accurate global map with an average accuracy of 85 percent [ref: Venter et al. 2022].

"Accessible maps of the planet are a fundamental tool for understanding the world, especially as the effects of climate change accelerate globally," said Jack Dangermond, president and founder of Esri. "We are proud to partner with Impact Observatory on its groundbreaking mapping and monitoring products that enable our users to see and monitor recent changes in land use, so they can take a geographic approach to decisions about food security, sustainable land use, resource management, and more."

Impact Observatory’s annual maps of the world are being used by customers, including Karingani Game Reserve, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Pula Properties, among others. Additionally, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) selected Impact Observatory for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to advance the company’s technology as they see the promise in its fast, accurate, automated land use and land cover change monitoring.

Supporting Resources

• Impact Observatory website
• Impact Observatory monitoring on demand
• Impact Observatory blog and news
• Esri, powered by Impact Observatory, high resolution map of the world
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