NUVIEW
Setting the Scene
Believe it or not, many locations on Google Maps are inaccurate by a few meters. 🧐
While this may be a minor inconvenience for the casual user, it poses challenges in sectors like aviation, defense, and urban planning.
Current mapping technology called LiDAR measures the Earth from aircrafts or drones but is limited by flight ranges, weather disruptions, and hard-to-reach areas.
Today, only 5% of the world has been mapped accurately.
This week's company harnesses the power of satellites and LiDAR technology to accurately map the Earth in 3D.
In a Sentence
NUVIEW is a geospatial technology company that maps the Earth using satellites and LiDAR for a broad set of use cases..
Satellites: Capture and visualize the Earth's surface in 3D, allowing for a comprehensive view of terrain, structures, and objects.
LiDAR: This stands for Light Detection and Ranging, where the company sends laser beams from the satellites to measure distances.
Use cases: Commercial applications include forest monitoring, coastal planning, flood risk management, defense, and urban zoning.
Bulleted Version:
- Think of NUVIEW as the transition from using a manual tape measurer, with its potential inaccuracies, to a precise laser measurer. 📏
The Basics
- Headquarters: Orlando, Florida
- Employee Count: 8
- Funding amount: $3M pre-seed in Jan 2022
- Business model: Contractual work
- Early traction: $1.2B in LOIs and early adopter agreements including a secured contract from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Due Diligence
WHAT WE LIKE
⬆️ Massive market expansion: NUVIEW has the potential to expand the ~$60B geospatial market by mapping parts of the Earth that have yet to be captured with existing LiDAR technology.
By penetrating trees and mapping water bodies from space, NUVIEW unlocks numerous opportunities for LiDAR use cases.
🥇 First-mover advantage: NUVIEW offers the first space-based commercial LiDAR satellite fleet to conduct accurate mapping at a lower price point.
🤝 Varied use cases: NUVIEW’s technology serves a variety of commercial and governmental use cases across energy and infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, insurance, mapping, intelligence, and emergency response.
The company already has massive contracts signed with energy analytics, national defense, land use, and coastline mapping.
POTENTIAL RISKS
🚀 Launch timeline: NUVIEW must hit key prototype, software, and integration milestones in the next 24 months to meet contracts and take advantage of the greenfield opportunity with few competitors.
⚙️ Technical risks: Satellite LiDAR technology is complicated and sensitive to a variety of technical limitations, which could impact the accuracy and applicability of the company’s technology.
💰 Capital intensive: The company must spend upfront to build and maintain satellites and abide by regulatory requirements, and build an MVP before seeing its first customer check.
Founder Profile
Clint Graumann, CEO: Former co-founder and CEO of TerraMetric, CCO of Agrian and MD at RapidEYE and BlackBridge.
Katie Graumann, COO: Former co-founder and COO of TerraMetric and international gold medalist in boat racing.
Comps
Array Labs: Backed by Seraphim Space, Y Combinator, Agya Ventures, and others
Pixxel: Backed by Google, Accenture, Radical Ventures, and others.
Descartes Labs: Backed by Union Grove Venture Partners, March Capital, Cultivation Sandbox, and others.
Ecopia AI: Bootstrapped.
Why NUVIEW
Pioneering commercial LiDAR technology from space, NUVIEW aims to eclipse traditional mapping and add a new dimension to geospatial intelligence across industries. 🌍🛰️🔍