Understory,
the weather network and analytics company, today announced that is has
closed a $5.25 million Series B funding round led by True Ventures with
participation from 4490 Ventures and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed
Fund.
“Our commitment to disrupt outdated methods for dynamic weather analysis
is the primary focus for this next stage of growth,” said Alex Kubicek,
Co-founder and CEO of Understory. “We are excited to work with our
investors who are supporting our mission of creating a higher standard
for hyperlocal weather monitoring.”
On the heels of a $7.5 million growth round in November 2018 and
Understory’s recent
expansion into South America, the funding investment supports the
international expansion of the weather sensor network across multiple
industries including agriculture, insurance, and air quality. The new
capital will also be allocated to increase the company’s employee
headcount and to expand into a new headquarters facility to sustain
Understory’s growth as the company scales globally.
“Understory is fundamentally transforming how weather data
infrastructure will be used across the globe,” said Puneet Agarwal,
Partner at True Ventures. “The on-the-ground insight of critical weather
events is essential for innovative decision-making across a wide variety
of industries. We look forward to witnessing Understory continue to
remodel the accessibility and accuracy of real-time weather information
on a global scale.”
The Revolution of Weather Intelligence
Understory’s weather stations funnel 125,000 measurements a second into
an artificial intelligence (AI) core that measures precise hail,
rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind and solar radiation, and air
quality. The AI core analyzes the data to provide critical atmospheric,
climate, and weather data to optimize decision-making across
agriculture, insurance, government and environmental markets.
The Understory weather network has been used in several industries
including in agriculture to determine irrigation and optimal harvest
dates and times. With stations in metropolitan areas across the country,
municipal leaders can leverage Understory sensors to track air quality
and determine the impact of air pollution reduction strategies in urban
environments.
“Understory is redefining the prioritization of weather data,” said
David Hall, Partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. “Capable
of deploying cost-effective weather technology and pinpointing
hyperlocal weather data in real-time, Understory has the potential to
transform billion dollar global markets. We are proud to be investing
again in a company that is scaling innovation outside of the traditional
tech hubs.”
Throughout the U.S., Understory has deployed more than 600 stations
within five major metropolitan areas and on multiple continents, with
plans to further increase globally in 2019. The company recently
announced Project
Atmosphere, Understory’s endeavor to bring its Atmosphere
technology to 10 new cities around the globe.
About True Ventures
Founded in 2005, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital
firm that invests in early stage technology startups. With more than $2
billion under management, True provides seed and Series A funding to the
most talented entrepreneurs in today’s fastest growing markets. The firm
maintains a strong community that supports founders and their teams,
helping True companies achieve higher levels of success and impact. To
date, True has helped more than 250 companies launch and scale their
businesses, creating over 10,000 jobs worldwide. The firm was awarded
2018 Venture Firm of the Year by the National Venture Capital
Association. To learn more, visit www.trueventures.com.
About Understory
Understory analyzes and processes the data it collects to create
real-time data sets, views, and actionable information from historical,
current, and forecasted weather events to provide better insight and
early detection of risks. Understory’s composite of granular weather
data has applications across a variety of markets, including
broadcasting, agriculture, forecasting, and risk mitigation. For more
information, visit: www.understoryweather.com.
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