NUVIEW: The Next Leap Forward in Earth Observation
Know Thyself
The Greek philosophers had it right: by knowing thyself one can be aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses to thereby improve one’s self. To truly know one’s self, one must look both inside and out to see the multitude of ways one is.
The Earth Observation industry (or EO for short) is the Know Thyself for Planet Earth. It is the gathering of information about the physical, chemical, and biological systems of our planet to gain a deeper understanding of changing planetary conditions and the causes of those conditions to help us live lives that are the best for us and the Earth. The gathering of this information, or “remote sensing” as the practice is often called can happen terrestrially–through sources contained within the planet–or in space via satellites orbiting the Earth.
Space-based remote-sensing satellites make up roughly 20% of all the satellites currently in orbit and they allow us to see large swaths of the planet down to very precise detail. The kind of planetary data we can get, and the use-cases of that data are vast and applicable to academic, scientific, commercial, civil government, and military entities. The war in Ukraine has put a spotlight on the capabilities and importance of satellite imagery. Indeed, in the future nearly every kind of company will find value in spaced-based EO.
A Brand New Capability
Remote sensing can be broken down into passive and active sensing. Passive sensing measures radiation that is naturally available like the reflection of the sunlight emitted from the sun. The most common type of passive sensing is optical, which is essentially taking a photograph of the Earth from space. Planet and MAXAR are two of the more well known and successful companies in this area. Other types of passive sensing include thermal, radio frequency, multispectral and hyperspectral. Active sensing emits radiation and then measures the energy that is reflected from the target through a sensor. The most-used type of active sensing is synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that can see through clouds and at night. Capella, ICEYE and Umbra are three established companies in this field.
We are now at an incredible moment in the EO industry with the introduction of NUVIEW, a MaC Venture Capital portfolio company revolutionizing the way we see our planet by building the first commercial satellites designed to annually map the Earth’s entire land surface with LiDAR. NUVIEW’s data will elevate global capabilities and transform what is possible for mankind to know about the Earth.
LiDAR, short for Light Detection and Ranging, which to date has probably been most associated with autonomous vehicles, is simply a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges between an object and a receiver. LiDAR imaging creates 3D point clouds like the one below that contain millions or billions of accurate 3-dimensional (X, Y, Z) points with other attributes like intensity, classification of features and GPS time. Because LiDAR uses active illumination to capture 3D information, its output is fundamentally different from other modalities, and when combined with volumetric voxel modeling more information can be captured and analyzed per atomic-unit than any other remote sensing source (a voxel is essentially a 3D version of a 2D pixel and gives more information about a point in space relative to a pixel). LiDAR imaging datasets, given their information density and spatial-mapping capabilities can be foundational datasets on top of which other active and passive remote sensing datasets can be layered to create an understanding of our planet never before possible. To date, only 5% of the Earth has been mapped using LiDAR. NUVIEW will change this.
The Democratization of Space-Based LiDAR
NUVIEW will not be the first entity to put a laser-ranging satellite into space. The US government has previously launched three such satellites: Jason-2 measured ocean surface topography and was launched in 2008, ICESat-2, launched in 2018 had a main purpose of measuring ice sheet elevation and sea ice thickness, as well as land topography, vegetation characteristics, and clouds, and the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission, also launched in 2018, with the purpose of providing answers to how deforestation has contributed to atmospheric CO2 concentrations, how much carbon forests will absorb in the future, and how habitat degradation will affect global biodiversity. The budgets of these three projects measured in the hundreds of millions and were not in the domain of a startup company.
Space-based LiDAR has long been the dream of many in the satellite and geospatial industries, in large part because of the deep planetary understanding unlocked from the three missions above. However, to date, building out a LiDAR constellation was thought to be too difficult or too expensive to accomplish on a non-governmental budget. NUVIEW and its founder Clint Graumann, with his deep expertise and experience in the remote sensing industry, had the boldness to ask why not now and bring this awesome challenge down to first principles. What they concluded was that given the advancements seen in the EO sector over the last 20 years, and in the space sector in general, and in the LiDAR industry specifically (including a new generation of remote-sensing technology called Geiger Mode LiDAR), with the right team, a new type of remote sensing constellation could be developed and launched by a commercial entity that could change the way we look at our planet like never before.
If NUVIEW Builds It, Will They Come?
A key question of any hard tech company is will there be massive demand on the other side of a large technological unlock? An unlock for the sake of better science is worthy for sure, but for a venture-backed startup, NUVIEW had to be sure there would be deep-pocketed buyers ready to buy this new type of Earth data — and not just government either. This had to truly be “dual-use” technology.
This is where Clint’s founding story becomes interesting. After having spent nearly a decade working in the remote sensing industry, first at RapidEye, a German geospatial information provider that became BlackBridge, which was then acquired by Planet Labs in 2015 (thus setting up one of the most successful EO companies in history), and then Agrian, a company helping the agricultural industry use space data, Clint started his own EO consultancy called TerraMetric in 2018 to broaden the work he was doing at Agrian and help companies and governments across a number of sectors leverage the space sector to solve key challenges. Clint noticed that a large number of his clients were either asking directly for LiDAR data, or had problems that could best be solved using LiDAR. However, while there was a healthy terrestrial LiDAR industry, getting affordable access to scaled LiDAR data with frequent “refreshes” (imaging the same swath of land again and again over time to show changes) was nearly impossible. As the volume of LiDAR requests continued to rise, and with his inability to properly satisfy his customers’ needs, Clint realized the vast opportunity to build the world’s first LiDAR constellation.
But Clint was not a technical LiDAR expert, and while he knew there was an enormous unmet demand for this data, he needed to know this kind of constellation could be built, and on a budget that was not some small nation’s GDP. So he did what any promising entrepreneur would do and cold-called one of the foremost LiDAR experts in the world, Dr. Paul McManamon, the author of the definitive LiDAR textbook, LiDAR Technologies and Systems that Clint had read to better understand this space. Clint convinced Dr. McManamon to join him as his Chief Science Officer (with Dr. McManamon no doubt excited about the potential of building the first of something that could really change the world). Together, they set out on an exploration that convinced them both that this bold and ambitious mission was indeed achievable by a commercial company, and in January 2022 they raised their first round of institutional funding, led by MaC.
In the 17 months since that round, NUVIEW has secured over $1.2 billion in detailed letters of intent from commercial companies which are prime contractors on programs of record for as well as civilian and military government agencies. One such agency, the United States Geological Survey operates a billion dollar (annually) program of record called the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) whose goal is to complete acquisition of nationwide LiDAR to provide the first-ever national baseline of consistent high-resolution topographic elevation data. The first full year of 3DEP production began in 2016 and at the end of fiscal year 2022, 89.5% of the US has available or in progress elevation data that meet 3DEP specifications for high accuracy and resolution. Study documents have shown that over $13.5 billion of benefits have been realized as a result of this program. However, this program relies on expensive and outdated terrestrial LiDAR, and the managers of this program are thrilled at the prospect of space-based LiDAR and have worked closely with NUVIEW to craft an “early adopter” agreement that spells out what an actual contractual agreement between the program and NUVIEW would look like. In addition, NUVIEW is already generating multi-million dollar revenue from the Department of Defense for work they are performing.
The US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence in support of national security, would love to collect the kind of detailed 3D spatial and elevation imaging data LiDAR can provide, but flying planes or drones over contested areas is not feasible so the agency approximates with optical, SAR and other types of remote sensing data (again, only 5% of the Earth to date has been mapped through LiDAR). Getting space-based LiDAR imaging of key areas of strategic national interest would be of huge value to the NGA and other defense-oriented agencies.
And on the commercial side as just one example, oil and gas companies are required to monitor their 20K miles of pipeline for possible infractions, including exposed pipes that are supposed to be buried beneath the surface. While they are already using remote sensing imagery–including terrestrial LiDAR–to help remain compliant, scaled LiDAR data from space with annual refreshes is of extreme interest.
To detail the incredible market ahead of them, NUVIEW has mapped out 30 different industry use cases and the associated value that could be derived from the use of space-based LiDAR.
EO industry expert and consultant, Aravind Ravichandran of TerraWatch Space has estimated an immediate market potential of $613M, a figure that does not factor in a substantial “growing of the pie” when the full planet can be mapped in LiDAR. MaC has estimated the revenue potential for NUVIEW in the years ahead in the billions, and as NUVIEW’s $1.2 billion in LOIs suggest, there is a large and unmet demand for this kind of unique information. And given NUVIEW’s first-mover advantage, coupled with the fact there is no other company even remotely on the horizon looking to do what NUVIEW does, this could be a winner-takes-all market for the foreseeable future.
An Unparalleled Opportunity
Rarely does an opportunity come around in venture capital to back a company whose vision is to do something never before done, and by doing so not only changes how we observe our home, but also provides information that makes the world safer, healthier, and more productive. The net result can surely be measured in incredible valuation creation, but more importantly a deeper understanding of ourselves and our impact on the world — something that will help make the world a better place for generations to come. NUVIEW is such an opportunity and we are thrilled at MaC to be early and enthusiastic believers.
Michael Palank led the NUVIEW seed round for MaC Venture Capital.
About MaC Venture Capital
MaC Venture Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm based in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley that invests in technology startups leveraging shifts in cultural trends and behaviors. The general partners represent diverse backgrounds in technology, business, politics, entertainment, and finance, allowing them to accelerate entrepreneurs on the verge of their breakthrough moment. The firm provides hands-on support crucial for building and scaling category-leading companies, including operations strategy, brand building, recruiting, sales development, and mission-critical introductions. MaC Venture Capital is the result of a merger between Cross Culture Ventures, co-founded by Marlon Nichols, and M Ventures, co-founded by Adrian Fenty, Michael Palank, and Charles D. King. Find MaC Venture Capital online at https://macventurecapital.com and @MaCVentureCap.
