The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that more powerful storms are coming to the United States, especially later this year. This makes the ability to predict weather conditions more crucial.
With this increased demand also come startups looking to capitalize and investors willing to back them to make their visions come to life.
Windborne, in particular, is using a revolutionary kind of weather baloon to try and detect weather events.
According to the company’s CEO and co-founder, the California-based startup holds the “most comprehensive balloon constellation on the planet” and its “mission is to mitigate the most disruptive aspects of climate change.”
What sets Windborne apart is that its balloons can stay afloat for weeks instead of just a few hours. This lets their technology collect 50 times more data per balloon and across vast distances, including remote locations.
Windborne’s goal is to use fewer balloons to cover the 85% or so of the earth’s atmosphere that currently lack weather data, as per the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
As climate change and its effect on weather affects businesses worldwide, startups like Windborne will play an even more crucial role in helping predict the weather. With a $15 million round closed following a massive investment from its lead investor, Khosla Ventures, Windborne is a step closer to making more accurate forecasts.
So far, Windborne has raised $25 million from various investors, including Footwork VC, Pear VC, Convective Capital, Ubiquity Ventures, and Susa Ventures.