Anyone who has followed international news of late will be aware of the devastating floods that have swept through some of the hardest-hit corners of the world, from America and Europe to Africa, Australia and Asia, India and Pakistan. Their worst flood in recent memory.
Overall, climate change-related risks are likely to worsen. And while there are different opinions about what we can do to avoid such disasters in the future – if anything – some companies are looking for ways to plan for this new reality, and at least go some way to reduce the impact of floods.
One such company is 7Analytics, a Norwegian startup founded in 2020 by a team of data scientists and geologists to reduce flood risk for construction and energy infrastructure companies. With its first product, FloodCube, 7Analytics leverages AI and advanced machine learning techniques to calculate current surface water and where it flows (“the runoff”), then model how future rainfall will occur.
So in practice, FloodCube is more predictive. why Flooding occurs, which shows where water can accumulate depending on different environmental conditions. While this can be achieved today by combining multiple software programs and manual calculations, FloodCube brings everything under one roof.
FloodCube in action. Image credits: 7 reviews
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As with any AI and ML-infused software, big data sets are critical to 7Analytics’ promises – it collects data from publicly available sources, including digital elevation models (DEM) for topography, satellite imaging and climate data, and then integrates these sources. To make it easier for users to find insights. Its clients include the municipality of Bergen, where 7Analytics is headquartered, giant Skanka and engineering consultancy Multiconsult. And this gives a strong signal World Health Organization 7 Analytics are targeting, and who cares about predicting future flood conditions – protecting urban infrastructure is the name of the game here.
“Today, most developers and real estate owners have very little knowledge of their exposure to flood risk,” Jonas Toland, founder of 7Analytics, told TechCrunch.
While the technology is primarily used by construction companies in Norway, 7Analytics is expanding into new areas such as energy infrastructure, and is currently in talks with a few energy companies in the US. A meteorology company that processes data in areas such as risk management, shipping or energy production. In short, 7Analytics is helping StormGeo “improve” its offerings to its oil and gas clients, including companies in Houston, Texas.
“Our product takes a real-time StormGeo weather forecast – for example, the risk of rain tomorrow – and translates it into actionable risk information, for example, their site is at risk of x-inch flooding tomorrow,” Toland explained. “This information can be used to determine whether employees can use the parking lot or to reroute delivery vehicles. [for example]He said.
Beginners to the rescue?
According to recent data from reinsurance company Switzerland Re, extreme weather events cost insurers $101 billion last year, a figure estimated to be only the third since 1970. And Hurricane Ida alone reportedly caused at least $50 billion in damage. As such, we’re seeing all kinds of climate-tech startups enter the fray, even companies that weren’t originally focused on climate. Yesterday, TechCrunch wrote about VRAI, a six-year-old company that initially provided VR simulation training for the aerospace and defense sectors, but is now expanding into renewable energy, where it focuses on helping to grow Europe’s workforce and support schemes. To increase the capacity of offshore wind energy in the next decade.
Elsewhere, Australia’s FloodMap recently raised $8.5 million to provide real-time flood forecasts, and last year we wrote about Forrunner’s New York-based floodplain management platform.
Taking things to the next level after officially entering the US market, 7Analytics announced today that it has raised $2.5 million in seed round funding from sustainability-focused VC firm Momentum Partners, with participation from Construct Ventures and Obos VC. While this funding will help 7Analytics expand in Europe and the US, the company says it plans to eventually use the technology to model other “natural disasters,” including landslides and biodiversity loss.
“Everything we build is rigged for global use, so we’re rapidly scaling our model across continents,” Toland said. “At the same time, we have to consider that our cities are different in topography, climate and structure. Our models are easy to adapt to new use cases aligned with the diverse customer groups we’ve onboarded – from building developers to municipal caseworkers and infrastructure owners.
