Vancouver-based UrtheCast was founded in 2010 and has raised $14.5 million to-date. The company is making its mark on history and recently delivered the world’s first Ultra HD Earth video by streaming directly from the International Space Station (ISS).
UrtheCast announced today that is plans to continue its foray into space and has reached a definitive agreement to acquire UK-based Elecnor Deimos for its Earth Observation business. The terms of the deal were not disclosed and “UrtheCast will soon acquire Deimos ownership, operation of the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, and the Deimos global archive of Earth imagery.”
Scott Larson, UrtheCast Co-founder and CEO, said, “This is an incredible acquisition that epitomizes technological and operational synergy. UrtheCast is rapidly accelerating its mission to democratize Earth Observation imagery, and bring a unique dataset and distribution model to customers and users that up until now, haven’t had this type of access.”
Fabrizio Pirondini, Deimos Co-founder and CEO, added: “This is a superb opportunity for all involved, and opens up a world of possibilities for our respective sales teams. The sale of EO data and value-added services is at the core of our operations, such that our synergies and objectives for this acquisition are perfectly aligned.”
Update — July 15th: The acquisition has officially closed today and Elecnor and its 50 employees are now part of Urthecast. Statement below:
“This is our first step off the Space Station, and an exciting growth opportunity that will help to accelerate our UrtheCast Constellation plans, while populating our platform with powerful content,” explained Scott Larson, UrtheCast Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “By acquiring the entire satellite operations, two satellites and two ground stations, we’ve created another substantial revenue stream for the Company, and have improved our imagery archive with 6.5 billion square kilometers of Deimos Imaging data.”
“We’re delighted to welcome 50 additional employees from the Deimos Imaging team, a highly experienced group with deep roots in the Earth Observation industry,” explained UrtheCast President and Chief Operating Officer, Wade Larson. “In combination with Deimos Imaging’s robust customer base, our business development program is poised for further growth this year. Deimos Imaging has an established customer base in Europe and Latin America, including the European Space Agency, as well as commercial customers in the agricultural, forestry, and land use industries. “