Understory, a producer of weather and related analytics data for insurers and others, raised $7.5 million in new financing designed to help propel an international expansion.
The Wisconsin-based startup said the funding adds to an already ample Series A round, bringing the total to $17 million. The firm 4490 Ventures led the round, which also included capital from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, a D.C.-based investment firm founded by former AOL CEO Steve Case.
Plans call for using the cash infusion to expand Understory’s presence in the international agriculture market.
Case, in prepared remarks, said the company stands out through its use of sensor networks and on-the-ground observations to compile its weather data. He said he expects the startup to “redefine real-time weather information for insurance, agriculture, academics, utility companies and more.”
To date, Understory said it has deployed more than 500 stations throughout five major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and plans to expand nationally to 5,000 sensors by the end of 2019. Its international presence was kicked off through a partnership with Monsanto, now Bayer, to deploy weather stations in South America to measure rainfall, temperature, humidity, evapotranspiration (moisture leaving plant) and growing degree units (where a plant is in its life cycle to determine best harvesting time) to inform decisions around irrigation, harvest dates and times, and seed production.
Source: Understory