US-based weather prediction technology developer ClimaCell has completed a $45m series B round featuring Ford Smart Mobility and JetBlue Technology Ventures, subsidiaries of carmaker Ford and airline operator JetBlue respectively.
Venture capital fund Clearvision Ventures led the round, and VC firms Envision Ventures, Canaan, Fontinalis Partners and Square Peg Capital also participated.
ClimaCell has created technology that uses sensors from wireless and internet-of-things networks to detect weather conditions to a precise point in an extremely localised environment at lower latitudes than with traditional radar-based systems.
The technology is expected to be utilised in areas like autonomous vehicles and drones as well as in industries that have always required weather data, such as aviation. In addition to being an investor, JetBlue is also one of ClimaCell’s customers.
Marcy Klevorn, an executive vice-president at Ford who is also its president of mobility, said: “Forming a strategic relationship with ClimaCell will deliver value across our business.
“High-definition, microweather information supports multiple mobility and AV initiatives, including route planning, the services we can offer to customers via FordPass, and sharing information via the Transportation Mobility Cloud. In the future, real-time data will allow autonomous vehicles to be routed around bad weather.”
ClimaCell had received an undisclosed amount of funding from JetBlue Technology Ventures in January this year, two months after Canaan led its $15m series A round, investing alongside Fontinalis Partners and Square Peg Capital.
The company had previously raised $1.4m in September 2016 and $2.4m in May 2017 according to regulatory filings. It identified Square Peg as an existing investor in the series A round.
