Tomorrow.io, a weather technology company founded in Israel, has raised $175 million at a valuation of over $1 billion. The funding round was led by Stonecourt Capital and HarbourVest.
The money will be used to speed up the rollout of DeepSky, an AI-powered network of weather satellites. This system aims to deliver much more accurate weather forecasts and fill data gaps in regions that are not well covered by older government weather systems.
With this investment, Tomorrow.io’s total funding is now around $500 million. The company is based in Boston, employs about 150 people in Israel, and has an estimated annual recurring revenue of $100 million.
Even though AI-based weather forecasting has improved significantly, it is still limited by the quality and frequency of data collection. If the data is incomplete or outdated, forecasts can only be so accurate.
DeepSky plans to fix this by using a network of low-Earth-orbit satellites with advanced sensors. These satellites will collect data more frequently and provide continuous global coverage, leading to more accurate weather forecasts.
The company, earlier called ClimaCell, was founded in 2016 by three Israeli entrepreneurs—Shimon Elkabetz, Rei Goffer, and Itai Zlotnik. All three have backgrounds in elite IDF units and started the company because they believed that accurate weather information is crucial for making better decisions in operations, business, and national security.
“We are an American company with a small development center in Tel Aviv, while most of our operations are based in the United States,” Goffer told media. “Today we are the fastest-growing company in the weather sector and operate the largest fleet of weather satellites in the world. We generate roughly three times more atmospheric data than the rest of the industry combined.
“Our forecasting models are already the most advanced globally, and DeepSky represents a quantum leap in satellite capabilities. Until now, satellites were roughly the size of a box; DeepSky satellites will be closer to the size of a car, carrying between three and five sensors each, with a significantly larger overall constellation. We plan to complete deployment by the end of the decade, with dozens of satellites in orbit.
“The United States is undergoing a major shift toward privatization of weather infrastructure. For decades this domain was dominated by government systems, but it is rapidly becoming a service-based market. Many U.S. government satellites are nearing the end of their operational life, and without alternatives there could be a decline in forecast quality. Today, about 95% of the data feeding global forecasting models comes from just ten satellites, six of which will retire before the end of the decade. Replacing them through traditional programs would take years and we are building the solution.”
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