ITHACA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ursa Space Systems Inc. (“Ursa”), a Space 3.0 analytics-as-a-service company, announced it closed a $7 million Series A equity financing from experienced financial, security, and strategic investors. The financing was led by Paladin Capital Group and included participation from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), RRE Ventures, S&P Global, and other strategic investors. Ursa was formed by leaders in the satellite and software security fields with the vision to unlock the potential of data and insights derived from radar satellite imaging.
Ursa provides transparency to complex markets, enabling global operators in financial services, energy, industrial, and government sectors to make more informed decisions. Ursa released the world’s first comprehensive weekly China oil inventory report in May, added the Caribbean and MENA regions in September, and plans to have global coverage in early 2018.
“Ursa’s weekly measurements enable users to recalibrate their expectations about the current and future condition of oil supply & demand,” said Colin Fenton, Blacklight Research. “Blacklight has been able to anticipate oil market changes so accurately in 2017 as a direct result of utilizing Ursa’s data.”
Ursa provides its rapidly growing customer base with the analytics solutions needed to make the connection between space technology and global markets. To accomplish this, Ursa utilizes its experience with a unique form of satellite imagery (Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR), other cutting-edge technologies, and external information layers. With the new funding, Ursa will continue to expand its customer base for global oil & gas industry information products and continue development of its proprietary machine vision and machine learning algorithms to bring to market additional economic indicators.
“The globalization of business and government operations has resulted in interconnected supply chains,” said Adam Maher, co-founder and CEO of Ursa. “However, there is a lack of transparency regarding critical parts of these supply chains, which causes uncertainty and risk for our customers. We aim to expand our product offerings for existing customers, and engage with new organizations that desire timely insights into external assets and events that directly affect them. Ursa is excited to have the support of this group of successful venture firms who have demonstrated experience in bringing new technologies to disrupt established markets.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Ursa and a strong group of financial and strategic investors to support accelerating the company’s growth,” said Christopher Steed, Managing Director at Paladin Capital Group, who will be joining Ursa’s board of directors.
“Ursa’s vision of a global economic intelligence platform powered by the 24/7, all-weather reliability of SAR imaging will provide major enterprises in critical infrastructure verticals and government clients with greater situational awareness and new insights for gaining competitive advantage, managing risks, and operating with confidence,” said Mourad Yesayan, Principal at Paladin Capital Group. “With its unique combination of technology and subject matter expertise, we believe Ursa is in an excellent position to unlock the compelling value of this new category of accurate, actionable intelligence for its customers.”
"Adam and his team have a deep understanding of both SAR imaging and the application of computer vision technology,” said Will Porteous, a General Partner and COO at RRE Ventures. “This allows them to make valuable primary observations about the global economic and geopolitical environment in near real-time, all while capitalizing on legacy SAR assets. They are building an important business in the new satellite imaging value chain and we are proud to be their partner.”
About Ursa Space Systems Inc.
Ursa Space Systems Inc. (Ursa) is a Space 3.0 analytics-as-a-service company that brings transparency to global markets to help traders and analysts in the finance and energy industries make more informed decisions. Ursa released the world’s first comprehensive weekly China oil inventory report in May, added the Caribbean and MENA regions in September and plans to have global coverage in early 2018. Ursa uses space-based data from radar satellites as the source of their timely reports. Radar works through clouds and at night, allowing collection of information about activities on the Earth rain or shine. Based in Ithaca, NY, Ursa was founded in 2014 by leaders in the satellite and software security fields with the vision to unlock the potential of data and insights derived from radar satellite imaging. For product details, visit www.ursaspace.com. For announcements, follow Ursa on Twitter @UrsaSpace.
About Paladin Capital Group
Paladin Capital Group was founded in 2001 and has offices in Washington DC, New York, London, and Silicon Valley. As a multi-stage investor, Paladin focuses on best-of-breed companies with technologies, products, and services that meet the challenging global cyber security and digital infrastructure resilience needs for commercial and government customers. Paladin has over $1 billion in committed capital across multiple funds. Follow the firm on Twitter @Paladincap, visit their website at www.paladincapgroup.com
About NEA
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With more than $20 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm’s founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 210 portfolio company IPOs and more than 360 acquisitions. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.
About RRE Ventures
RRE Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm that makes early stage investments, including seed. In its 23 year history, RRE has backed companies such as 8i, Bark & Co, Business Insider, Buzzfeed, Clearpath Robotics, Concur, Giphy, Makerbot, Managed by Q, Proofpoint, Spaceflight, Spire, theSkimm, Venmo, Vine and Wisdom Tree.
RRE has raised seven funds with total capital commitments of $1.5 billion. RRE Ventures invests nationally across all sectors, with a current focus on Enterprise Software, Financial Services, Media, Robotics, VR/AR, Space & Satellites, AI/ML, Real Estate Technology, and Healthcare IT.
About S&P Global
S&P Global is a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. The Company’s divisions include S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Dow Jones Indices and S&P Global Platts. S&P Global has approximately 20,000 employees in 31 countries. For more information visit www.spglobal.com.
