Sunny Skies: Skymet Secures 4.5 Million Via Series B Funding
Sunny Skies: Skymet Secures 4.5 Million Via Series B Funding
In 2003, Jatin Singh founded Skymet , a company which provides weather forecasting services. It has netted funds adding up to INR 270 million and the weather forecasting company has secured these funds in the Series B round spearheaded by Asia Pacific which is an investment arm of the UK Daily Mail Group. Current investor Omnivore Partners also took part in this round which value the Delhi based firm at a cool INR 800 million.
New instrumentation will be ordered by the company following its latest infusion of funds. Skymet is looking to spy on the Weather Gods using state-of-the-art technology for tracking hail as well as frost. R & D is where it's all at nowadays and Skymet will reach new heights with its new stash of cash. Research and development for weather forecasting as well as crop area and yield forecasting will yield more than just data. If used in a proactive way , weather forecasting has the capacity to lead the way for economists and planners to lead nations to brighter prospects. It can also aid in effective disaster management and a more proactive approach to coping with natural calamities rather than chasing “intuitive” Cassandras.
The aim is to expand the geographical footprint across Asia and Africa. It is also to provide quality weather forecasting for customers and businesses. Omnivore Capital Private Limited is backed by the Godrej Group and it picked up a 33% stake in Skymet to the tune of INR 45 million in 2011. Media journalist Jatin Singh started providing forecast data for media outlets as early as 2006 and he has been providing forecasting for the energy sector since this time. Skymet has an impressive list of customers including Power Grid, ONGC, Reliance Energy and Gazprom.
Apart from this, its clients also include Thomson Reuters, Bayer and Rallis . Skymet works with farmers. It also works with insurers such as HDFC Ergo and ICICI Lombard. Weather based crop insurance is hot right now given factors such as El Nino and the Weather Gods not to mention the human disasters such as global warming induced climate change. Whether the finger is pointed at man or more esoteric forces, Skymet can be your friend in need.
The company is also rolling out its new website to provide weather forecasts in 7 languages and it was about 2, 000 automatic weather stations across the nation. But where there is potential, competition is not far behind and Skymet is no different. BK Consimpex as well as Expressweather and Weather Risk Management Services are some of the other rivals angling their weather vanes in hopes of capturing market share. The timely induction of funds for Skymet is just the right degree of edge it needs to take weather forecasting to a new high .
Daily Mail and General Trust plc is a British media conglomerate and it has a massive number of interests in in media of all kinds including radio, television and newspapers . Omnivore Partner is also well known with investment in companies such as MITRA and Arohan Foods. Predicting the weather is tough enough. But with the right instruments, Skymet could well be the "hale fellow well met" for countless consumers curious to know what the Weather Gods have in store for us.
