Jupiter, a global climate modeling and technology startup, has nailed down a $54 million financing round – money that will help accelerate sales and marketing efforts. A big boost in research and development is also in the cards.

“Investments from leaders across the globe, representing every sector of the economy, reflect the growing recognition that organizations need powerful analytic tools to invest in resilience to reduce the impacts and risks from climate change,” Rich Sorkin, Jupiter’s CEO, said in prepared remarks. “The profound challenges from climate change are multiplying and the world is rapidly awakening to an ever-worsening reality. With this investment, Jupiter will more quickly and broadly serve increasing global demand for our best-in-class climate risk analytics.”

Clearvision Ventures and Japanese venture firm MPower Partners led what is the California company’s Series C financing. Jupiter noted that many other new investors took part, including CDPQ, a global investment firm and “one of the world’s largest university endowments” (which Jupiter declines to name). All of Jupiter’s major existing investors—DCVC, Energize Ventures, Ignition Partners, Liberty Mutual, MS&AD Ventures, QBE Ventures, and SYSTEMIQ — also participated.

The new investment will be used to accelerate Jupiter’s rapid expansion in sales and support to meet increasing customer demand. Jupiter also will use the funds to accelerate investment in R&D to deliver more value to Jupiter’s current and future customers, who have subscription access to nearly 150 trillion data fields, produced using cloud-based supercomputing.

Jupiter said it now provides analytics to 30 companies in the Global 2000, U.S. Department of Defense and FEMA to understand the impact of climate change on their physical infrastructure and supply chains, risks to financial portfolios, and vulnerabilities to human health and safety, and to protect over ten billion dollars of physical assets and more than a trillion dollars of financial assets.

The company additionally claims that global asset managers, banks, chemical companies, cities, consulting and accounting firms, data centers, defense agencies, emergency managers, energy companies, insurers and reinsurers, pharmaceutical and resource companies, and wine producers rely on its advanced technology and climate science.

With the new round, existing investors Dara Holdings (Lubna Olayan), David Baran (Co-CEO, Symphony Financial Partners), and Roger Orf (Vice Chairman, Apollo Global Real Estate) all increased their ownership. They are joined by Bobby Mehta (former CEO of HSBC North America and current Director at JLL, Allstate and Northern Trust), Allan Thygesen (President of Google Americas and Global Partners), Jack Oliver (former Vice Chair, Finance Bush 2000), and the families of the founders of PanAm, Standard Oil, and U.S. military aviation.

In April, Jupiter was one of 11 InsurTech startups that joined Lloyd’s sixth cohort of its Lloyd’s Lab innovation accelerator program. This round is focused on creating simpler products for customers, including products and services related to climate risks.

Source: Jupiter