Blackshark Gets Money to "Democratize” 3D Mapping
Blackshark.ai, the geospatial intelligence company known for creating the first 3D digital twin of the Earth for Microsoft's flight simulator, has announced the closure of a successful funding round that saw the participation of investors such as Microsoft and Cap Gemini.
The company raised another USD15 million, which brought the Series A total to USD35 million.
Blackshark originated as a video game company but has moved into geospatial technology to "democratize" high-frequency 3D mapping applications across an extensive range of geospatial use cases in the public and private sectors.
Traditional 3D mapping based on photogrammetry can be slow and costly and require much imagery. Blackshark.ai claims to be able to deliver 3D visualization for digital twins, training, and simulation at scale at a much lower cost and with one single image.
The Blackshark.ai platform transforms large volumes of raw data from satellite and aerial imagery into semantically labeled geospatial digital twins. It claims its software facilitates rapid and accurate object detection and classification at scale without the need for extensive, costly, and time-consuming training data. It also enables a comprehensive analysis of land use and cover.
“Blackshark.ai’s technology has shown great potential for applications in renewables, critical infrastructure monitoring, real estate property management, urban planning, and autonomous vehicles, among many others,” said Lucia Sinapi-Thomas, managing director of Capgemini Ventures, one of the latest investors.
Blackshark chief executive Michael Putz said the company aimed to “become the foundational geospatial search engine for real-time, actionable geospatial insights on a global scale.“
The company was also recently selected to participate in the first AWS European Defence Accelerator, which was created to enhance the capability of the European defense industry.
The top startups interested in doing business with defense and national security organizations across Europe will receive technical, business, and mentorship support to extend their operational knowledge.
The program is delivered in collaboration with Plexal. It consists of mentorship, networking opportunities, access to AWS computing credits and special training.
Image credit: iStockphoto/vi73777
