SAN FRANCISCO — Ursa Space Systems, a geospatial analytics company specializing in applications for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, raised $15 million in a Series B funding round led by Razor’s Edge Ventures.
With the additional funding announced Nov. 7, Ithaca, New York-based Ursa plans create new data products.
“We’re seeing a number of new markets pulling for insights from satellite-based data including supply chain, logistics and insurance,” Derek Edinger, Ursa co-founder and chief strategy officer, said by email.
In the insurance market, customers are seeking new ways to assess damage caused by events including natural disaster, Edinger said. A clear view of the damaged areas also helps insurance companies plan their response to future events, he added.
New Ursa backers joining the Series B round were Citi and New York Ventures, a division of Empire State Development. In addition, firms that participated in previous Ursa funding rounds, including Paladin Capital Group, RRE Ventures and S&P Global Inc., provided capital.
Ursa raised a total of $12.7 million in Series A and Series A-1 rounds in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
“Since Ursa’s founding, global businesses in the energy and finance sectors have relied on our comprehensive and timely analytics to make strategic decisions,” Adam Maher, Ursa co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “As Ursa continues to build on our technology, we’ve identified a number of other opportunities to pursue high-value markets and customers that have not historically leveraged the power of SAR and would benefit from these insights.”
Mark Spoto, Razor’s Edge managing director, said in a statement, “While governments have utilized and recognized the value of SAR imagery for several decades, it has not been until recently that this data is sufficiently timely and cost-efficient to drive real commercial market opportunities.”
Eric Gertler, Empire State Development acting commissioner, president and CEO-designate, said in a statement, “New and innovative startups throughout New York State are making use of cutting-edge technology to provide services in a modern, diversified economy. Ursa’s commercial use of SAR imagery will fill an economic niche with help from a New York Ventures investment.”
