Hydrosat has raised $20.5M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Hydrosat's investors include 360 Capital Partners, Blue Bear Capital, Craft Ventures, Cultivation Capital, Expon Capital, Idea Fund of La Crosse, Industrious Ventures, Motier Ventures, OTB Ventures, Techstars, True Global Ventures, Eric Larchevêque.
Hydrosat is a climate tech company that builds a satellite constellation providing daily, high-resolution thermal infrared imagery and analytics to measure water stress, optimize irrigation, and forecast crop yields, primarily serving agriculture, government agencies, agribusiness, insurance, and environmental sectors.[1][2][3][5] It solves critical problems like water scarcity and climate-driven food insecurity by delivering actionable insights—such as field-specific irrigation plans and regional water productivity monitoring—to customers across 2.5 million acres in 36 countries, with strong growth evidenced by a $22 million funding round, acquisition of IrriWatch, and contracts like a $1.2 million US Air Force deal in 2023.[2]
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Hydrosat emerged from the need to leverage thermal satellite imagery for precise water stress detection in agriculture, led by CEO and cofounder Pieter Fossel, a technical expert driving the company's focus on geospatial intelligence.[1][2][3] Early traction built through partnerships with entities like NOAA, NRO, Bayer, SupPlant, and Nutradrip, culminating in pivotal 2023 milestones: securing $22 million in Series A funding, acquiring IrriWatch to enhance its irrigation platform, completing the first proprietary thermal payload (VanZyl-1), and landing a US Air Force contract—marking its expansion into weather data and defense applications.[2][6]
Hydrosat rides the wave of climate tech and EO SmallSat proliferation, capitalizing on rising water stress affecting 3 billion people by 2050 and food security threats amid climate change, with perfect timing as governments and agribusiness demand data-driven sustainability.[5][7] Market forces like DoD investments in weather modeling, precision agriculture's growth (projected to hit billions), and ESG pressures favor its thermal expertise, which fills gaps in traditional satellite data for hydrology and crop health.[1][2][4] It influences the ecosystem by enabling smarter resource allocation—boosting yields, cutting emissions—and pioneering commercial-defense crossovers, like Air Force integrations, while competing with firms like constellr in ag monitoring.[1]
Hydrosat's momentum positions it for constellation expansion post-VanZyl-1, deeper DoD penetration via new weather contracts (e.g., October 2024 Air Force deal), and broader API adoption in insurance/risk modeling.[1][2] Trends like AI-fused EO analytics and global water crises will accelerate demand, potentially scaling to tens of millions of monitored acres as SmallSat costs drop. Its influence could evolve from ag specialist to cornerstone of climate resilience infrastructure, delivering "decision-making superiority" across sectors—primed to secure food supplies as water stress intensifies.[2][3]
Hydrosat has raised $20.5M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $15.0M Series A in March 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 2023 | $15.0M Series A | 360 Capital Partners, Blue Bear Capital, Craft Ventures, Cultivation Capital, Expon Capital, Idea Fund of La Crosse, Industrious Ventures, Motier Ventures, OTB Ventures, Techstars, True Global Ventures, Eric Larchevêque, Pascal Gauthier, Pierre Lavaux, Sebastien Borget | |
| May 1, 2021 | $5.0M Seed | Amplify.LA, Cultivation Capital, Ingeborg Investments, 360 Capital Partners, Act One Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Eric Larchevêque, Expon Capital, Idea Fund of La Crosse, Industrious Ventures, Motier Ventures, OTB Ventures, Pascal Gauthier, Pierre Lavaux, Sebastien Borget, Shasta Ventures, Space Capital, Techstars, True Global Ventures | |
| Jul 1, 2019 | $470K Seed | Idea Fund of La Crosse, Techstars |
