Union Square Ventures leads FloodMapp’s $8.5M Seed Round

Innovative ClimateTech startup FloodMapp has announced a USD $6 ($8.5 AUD) million fundraising round led by New York based Union Square Ventures.

FloodMapp provides real time, property-specific flood forecasts, inundation maps and analytics to improve all phases of emergency management. Products ForeCast, NowCast and PostCast provide vital flood intelligence before, during and after flooding to help with preparation, response and recovery. Using over a billion data points and a proprietary hydraulic model to create flood data, FloodMapp provides the most accurate real time flood map forecasts in the world.

The funding round was led by Union Square Ventures’ Climate Fund, with participation by Mundi Ventures, Climate X, and Jelix Ventures. FloodMapp will use the capital injection to scale the company and expand into new markets.

Co-Founder and CEO of FloodMapp, Juliette Murphy, said this funding round presented an incredible opportunity for the company to establish themselves as world-leaders in real-time flood intelligence for emergency management.

“Since founding the company in 2018, we’ve assembled an incredible and multidisciplinary team who have made the impossible possible in a deep tech. Following years of R&D in AI, hydrology and hydraulics, we’ve developed and scaled our groundbreaking new flood model and we’ve proved the technology in real flood events.

Our customers across Australia and the USA are already using FloodMapp to mitigate the impacts of flooding and protect critical infrastructure. ForeCast has been successfully used by emergency managers to plan evacuations and save lives, and NowCast is being used to help drivers navigate around flooded roads in real time. We are now ready for the next stage of our development: scaling the business model to assist more communities and people affected by flooding,” said Juliette.

Union Square Ventures’ Climate Fund invests in companies and projects that provide mitigation for or adaption to the climate crisis.

Nick Grossman, Partner at Union Square Ventures said the match to The Climate Fund was a perfect fit. “Union Square Ventures is a ‘thesis-driven venture capital firm’. Our aim is to invest in companies around the world that are working in the climate mitigation and adaptation space.

“Last year, Hurricane Ida brought catastrophic flooding to New York City, resulting in loss of life and devastation. But this is happening on a global scale. The world is facing a climate crisis and we need the best and brightest thinkers, innovators and inventors from around the world to turn their collective talent to finding solutions. We’re thrilled to partner with FloodMapp, our very first adaptation-focused investment. FloodMapp has developed a world-first flood modelling technology to predict flooding at a granular, street level in real time. What excites us most about FloodMapp is the data network effect. By working with emergency managers and communities through partnerships like Waze, FloodMapp is collecting real-time ground observation data to continually validate and improve models” said Nick.

FloodMapp is able to integrate its data model with GIS systems including ESRI enabling emergency managers to access rapid flood modelling during a crisis. FloodMapp has integrated with wayfinding app Waze in Virginia, USA, to alert users when roads are flooded. FloodMapp Seed Round comes from:

• Union Square Ventures

• Mundi Ventures

• Climate X

• Jelix