Skymet startup: We all know that data is the new fuel that runs the business and the world. Predictions are made continuously using the time series of the data available so that the businesses can be prepared for the future to an extent, redesigning their operations in that way. Many data-related startups like Skymet are coming up in today’s world. After facing through two waves of deadly COVID, the businesses have realized that the future is uncertain and unpredictable.
No one can tell what will happen next, what new virus or a natural calamity will rise tomorrow in the world. So the businesses have started making data-based decisions. Data today has become the strongest asset of a business, as it tells the past trends of the business and to an extent helps in making the predictions of the future by training the data through complex machine learning algorithms and coding.
A startup that helps in weather forecasts and predictions is in news. The startup as announced on July 28, 2021, has raised Rs 12 crore. This round of funding was the debt funding round and was led by Northern Arc Capital and Caspian Impacts Investments. The funds collected by the startup will be used to strengthen the ground observation system and accurate predictions of floods and cyclones in east India.
The global weather forecast market is expected to increase from USD 1.2 billion in 2016 to USD 2.7 billion by 2023, as there is now a need for more accurate weather predictions, as it has become important to be careful and aware in such harsh times.
Skymet Weather Services was founded in 2003 by Jatin Singh
It is a private Indian company that is engaged in providing weather forecasting services. The Noida-based startup is the first player in the private sector enterprises to provide weather forecasting and weather graphics to the Indian media.
Today, the clientele of the startup includes almost all the media houses like Zee News, Aaj Tak, Sahara Samay, Mint, Times Now, ABP, The Hindu. The other big names as its clients are Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Thomsons Reuters, North Delhi Powers Ltd, and Gazprom.
The startup in the previous round of funding has raised USD 4.5 million from many investors in Series B round which was led by the Asia Pacific. It had also received funding from Omnivore Partners, where it took a 33% stake in Skymet, and a partner of Omnivore, Mark Khan had become a member of the board of the startup. The startup gained success when it was able to predict 2012, 2013, and 2014 Indian monsoons before the Indian Meteorological Department.
The Skymet startup has recently launched a weather website that allows a common user to check the weather information for free. Its application which is available in both Android and iOS is the first Indian application that helps in weather forecasting and is available in different regional languages of the country. It has been successful in developing much software for weather tools and climate decision support systems.
The startup is now expanding itself to providing weather forecasting data which will be helpful in farming and also collaborating with organizations to help them serve their needs for weather data so that it can be used for farming. The startup has around 6500 observation centres that are engaged in providing real-time data on rainfall, thunder, heat, and lightning. The Skymet startup also has plans to expand the size of the network and bring BFSI under insurance, lending, and weather forecast and management.
The CEO of Skymet startup Yogesh Patil made a statement saying that they are engaged in continuously improving their capabilities so that they can better their ground network observations in such tiring times and also help other organizations by providing their services.
He further added that the amount received will help the startup in establishing more ground observation units in Eastern India as that area is prone to natural calamities. The Skymet startup in this area aims to provide accurate data so that the farmers can plan accordingly.
The Skymet startup is working on the basic requirement of today’s time and we wish it a success and a bright future ahead.
Edited by Aishwarya Ingle
