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Urban Sky is a stratospheric technology and remote sensing company developing the Microbaloon, a high-altitude, zero-emission, reusable stratospheric balloon for aerial imaging. The company states the Microballoon delivers broad area, high-resolution aerial imagery at a lower cost than satellites, aircraft, or drones. The Microballoon leverages advanced balloon design, a small form factor, and component miniaturization. This allows it to be launched from almost any location at any time with minimal personnel and equipment, imaging specific areas at a desired time.
Urban Sky states its aerial imagery pricing starts at $5 per square kilometer for new tasks while providing better resolution than commercial satellite imagery (~10cm ground sample distance 3-band imagery). Use cases for the Microballoon aerial imagery include the following:
- Mapping of urban areas
- Updating basemaps and surveys
- Real-time disaster response monitoring for large flood plains, fires, and emergencies
- Managing crop production and vegetation health at scale
- Imaging remote areas to identify natural resources and environmental signatures
- Utility inspection for oil and gas monitoring and security
Urban Sky was founded in 2019 by CEO Andrew Antonio and CTO Jared Leidich. Leidich received five U.S. patents for stratospheric balloon technologies and led Spacesuit design and operations for Project StratEx.
On August 19, 2021, Urban Sky came out of stealth, announcing an over-subscribed $4.1 million seed round co-led by Catapult Ventures and Union Labs, with participation from TenOneTen Ventures, New Stack Ventures, and Techstars. Following the round, Alan Eustace, the former SVP of Knowledge at Google and the world-record holder for the highest human balloon flight and skydive, joined Urban Sky’s board of directors.
In the two years since its founding, the company won notable awards and contracts, including NASA small business innovation research (SBIR) grant to develop a stratospheric long-wave infrared (LWIR) sensor system for wildfire research, multiple Air Force small business technology transfer (STTR), a partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder to develop a real-time stratospheric wildfire monitoring system, and a $250,000 grant from Colorado’s Economic Development and International Trade as one of the state’s top advanced industry start-ups.
In June 2022, Urban Sky stated it is officially entering commercial operations after fifty test flights and is ready to start serving customers with its Microballoon technology. At the time of the announcement, the company was able to operate in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Nebraska. On July 23, 2022, Urban Sky unveiled its first 10cm imagery using its stratospheric Microballoon. On October 16, 2023, Urban Sky announced an over-subscribed $9.75 million Series A financing round co-led by New Legacy Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, and Lavrock Ventures, with participation from Catapult Ventures, Union Labs VC, DA Ventures (a Denver Angels Affiliate), and TenOneTen Ventures. Urban Sky stated the funding will enable it to scale its flight and imaging operations to over fifteen US states.
