Birmingham technology firm Geospatial Insight receives £3.5million investment

Geospatial Insight

Equity investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund and Midven helps to unlock £3.5m for Geospatial Insight
Geospatial, a leading provider of independent research derived from analysis of satellite, aerial and drone imagery

23 August 2018 – Birmingham, UK — Satellite, aerial and drone imagery specialist, Geospatial Insight, is to further develop its visual intelligence technology after receiving a £3.5m equity investment, its second funding round in only four years.

The multi-million-pound investment includes funding from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) – West Midlands Venture Capital Company Midven – alongside Foresight Williams and VenturesOne, and will allow Geospatial Insight to strengthen its machine learning expertise and develop new customer propositions that better inform enterprise decision making.

Using a combination of machine learning, big data analytics and remote sensing techniques, Geospatial Insight provides evidence-based insights for improved decision making in a range of sectors including financial, trading markets and insurance. This specialist skillset puts Geospatial Insight at the forefront of the explosion of geospatial data and machine learning development helping to deliver radically new insights into key events and trends around the world.

Commenting on the investment, David Fox, CEO of Geospatial Insight, said:

“We are delighted to receive investment through Midlands Engine Investment Fund, the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund and VenturesOne. Over the next 12 months we will be strengthening our machine learning expertise and developing new customer propositions that better inform enterprise decision making. By doing so we will also further extend our leading position in delivering business intelligence and analysis derived from satellite, aerial and drone imagery.”

Recently the firm worked in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey – a catastrophe that saw 27 trillion gallons of rainwater fall on Houston and southeast Texas, causing an estimated $75 billion in damages to properties. With 50 inches of stagnant water leaving roads impassable and usual means of assessment redundant, the live footage broadcast from Geospatial Insight’s drone network meant insurers were able to evaluate objects as small as 1cm, expediting claims and reimbursing thousands displaced from their homes.

Surjit Kooner, Director at Midven said:

“This £3.5m capital injection, supported by the MEIF, will prove vital as Geospatial Insight begins its recruitment drive – capitalising on what is an extremely high-growth sector. Geopsatial’s use of machine learning techniques has significantly increased the volume of data that can be analysed and packaged into truly scalable actionable intelligence products.”

Outside of its own visual capture technology, Geospatial Insight has turned to social media to develop its response to natural disasters. Developing a programme that automatically gathers all feeds relating to a major event, providing analysts with the ability to ascertain precise information relating to affected properties and locations as the situation unfolds.

Ken Cooper, Managing Director at the British Business Bank, said:

“This is a great example of why we have developed and backed the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. This funding, provided through our local partner Midven, is unlocking the finance that Geospatial needs to meet its ambitious growth targets. It’s good for the Midlands and for the UK economy.”

Pat Hanlon, Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership’s (GBSLEP) Board Director for Access to Finance, said:

“The Midlands Engine Investment Fund launched earlier this year to give innovative small and medium-sized firms such as Geospatial Insight the financial backing to take their business to the next level, supporting the wider economic growth of Greater Birmingham and Solihull. We encourage all like-minded companies to take advantage of the Fund which includes debt and equity finance ranging from £25,000 loans to £2million equity investment”.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

About Midven

By looking to empower, build and grow businesses, Midven works in partnership with entrepreneurs to build strong and successful companies. Having a hands-on approach, Midven prides itself on being with your business every step of the way; a value it has adhered to since its inception in 1990. Based in the heart of Birmingham, Midven looks to use its extensive experience and expertise by connecting businesses with the right resources, offering support whenever it is needed and investing time and effort to grow your business. In addition to the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, Midven currently manages five funds.

About GeoSpatial Insights

Geospatial Insight is a leading provider of independent research derived from the analysis of satellite, aerial and drone imagery. Sophisticated data sources and advanced technologies are applied, including machine learning, to produce evidence-based alternative data that enables their clients to make better business decisions.

The company specialises in the provision of syndicated and proprietary analysis to the Insurance, Investment and Corporate sectors. It delivers ground-breaking research which generates actionable visual intelligence that is used to augment various business models including; risk analysis, investment evaluation, asset monitoring and major event impact assessment.

About the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF)

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, will invest in Debt Finance, Small Business Loans, Proof-of-Concept and Equity Finance funds, ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development.
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity.Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund covers the following LEP areas: Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, The Marches, and Worcestershire in the West Midlands; and Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (D2N2) Greater Lincolnshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, and South-East Midlands in the East and South-East Midlands.
The project is receiving up to £78,550,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
The European Investment Bank is providing £122,500,000 to support the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. This follows backing for the Northern Powerhouse in 2017 and backing for the newly launched North East Fund. For further information visit www.eib.org.
The funds in which Midlands Engine Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations in or planning to open material operations in the West Midlands and East & South-East Midlands.
The British Business Bank has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). The guide, which impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses and provides links to support available at a regional level, is available at thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/bbb.
The British Business Bank is the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Our remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.
British Business Bank programmes are already supporting more than £4bn of finance to more than 65,000 smaller businesses, through over 100 finance partners and are participating in more than £6.6bn finance to 85 small mid-cap businesses.
British Business Bank plc is a limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, it is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government which is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.
More information, including a legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries, can be found on the British Business Bank website.