SkyWatch Space Applications Inc. has raised CDN $4 million or US $3.2 million in seed funding led by Sinai Ventures and Space Angels, with participation from Golden Venture Partners, Techstars Ventures, SK Ventures, Globalive Capital, and ARC Angel Fund.
SkyWatch previously received funding from OCE’s SmartStart Seed Fund.
Waterloo, Ontario based SkyWatch intends to use new funds to continue the development of the world’s largest aggregation and distribution platform for satellite data. SkwyWatch intends to add strategic hires, accelerate product development, and build partnerships.
SkyWatch’s innovative distribution platform, EarthCache, allows companies to cost-effectively integrate Earth observation satellite data into their applications, while empowering satellite operators to efficiently distribute data to new and previously underserved markets. SkyWatch is currently negotiating distribution rights with more than 30 satellite operators to service customers across agriculture, energy, finance, infrastructure, market intelligence, and many other industries.
“Because Earth observation data has the potential to positively impact everyday life in so many ways, everyone should have the ability to easily incorporate this unique data type into their software applications. However, the barriers have been far too high, until now,” said James Slifierz, SkyWatch’s CEO and co-founder. “SkyWatch was started with this vision and we’ve spent the past three years developing our platform alongside our early adopters. Satellite data integration into any software application is now as easy as payments integration via Stripe, or communications integration via Twilio. We’re excited for the tremendous growth ahead, for both the company and the industry.”
photo credit: SkyWatch