AUSTIN, Texas – Slingshot Aerospace, an advanced analytics company, today announced $5 million in new seed funding. The round was led by ATX Venture Partners with participation from new investor Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. The Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is part of Revolution, the Washington DC-based investment firm founded by former AOL Co-founder Steve Case focused on high-growth companies scaling outside of coastal tech hubs. The investment had additional participation from previous investors Okapi Capital, Stage Venture Partners, Sway Ventures and Techstars Ventures.
“Slingshot is on the cutting edge of applying AI, ML and big data analytics to geospatial and orbital exploration at a time when insights are more needed than ever,” said Colin Greenspon, Partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. “The company is another great example of a company finding advantages in scaling outside of Silicon Valley, and we look forward to supporting them as government and defense and other arenas apply their technologies.”
Slingshot Aerospace, which has raised $9.1M total to date, including this round of seed funding, will use the capital to accelerate the company’s product development and hire key talent in finance, business development and software engineering/data sciences. The company’s mission is to help government and commercial customers predict the unexpected and optimize their situational awareness by leveraging machine learning for geospatial intelligence and space situational awareness. Customers include BAE Systems, Boeing, NASA and the U.S. Air Force.
“Together, we created Slingshot to bring decision makers more complete and timely awareness in the orbital and geospatial arenas,” said David Godwin, CEO and Co-Founder of Slingshot Aerospace. “The market opportunity for Slingshot is vast, as we have become a leader in AI-driven space tech products across multiple domains – closing the gap between data analysis and critical decision making.”
Slingshot Aerospace was co-founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneur David Godwin, CEO, and former Air Force Officers Melanie Stricklan, Chief Strategy Officer, and Thomas Ashman, Chief Product Officer. The company’s product offerings include Orbital Atlas, a space situational awareness platform; Earth Portal, a geospatial visualization portal; and N2X, an edge-AI framework for drones and spacecraft.
“In bringing together disparate signals and using deep learning to speed up time-sensitive detections, both terrestrial and in orbit, we are continually discovering new ways to predict the unexpected and empower our commercial and defense customers with advanced analytics,” said Melanie Stricklan, CSO and Co-Founder of Slingshot. “It’s extremely rewarding to know that we have started to fulfill our mission and attract the highest caliber talent who share this passion.”
The company recently hired a new Vice President of Finance, Tom Inman, and a new Vice President of Technology, Dean Teffer, among other software engineering and strategic business development hires.
“As follow-on investors in Slingshot, we believe they will become the leaders in geospatial AI and edge technologies to make a true difference in our world,” said Chris Shonk, Managing Partner at ATX Venture Partners. “There is no better combination of people than Slingshot’s founders to commercialize this frontier technology. From leaders in the military with expertise on geospatial and orbital applications, to a proven serial entrepreneur and strategist on bringing products to market, this team is positioned to propel the company forward beyond our wildest imagination.”
About ATX Venture Partners
ATX Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in Texas and the South-Central U.S. The firm’s seed and Series A investments focus on software-as-a-service, IoT, e-commerce, AI, frontier commercial technologies, and mobile applications. ATX Venture Partners was created by expert entrepreneurs to serve emerging entrepreneurs. The firm was founded in 2014 and is based in Austin, Texas. Visit www.atxventurepartners.com, and follow them at @ATXVenture, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About Rise of the Rest
Rise of the Rest is a nationwide effort, powered by Washington DC-based investment firm Revolution, to invest in and work closely with entrepreneurs in emerging startup ecosystems. Since 2014, Steve Case and the Revolution team have logged more than 10,000 miles touring entrepreneurial communities by bus in 38 cities. In 2017, Case and JD Vance announced a $150 million Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, backed by a group of iconic entrepreneurs, executives and investors that believe the next great startup investments are located outside of coastal cities. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund invests catalytic capital, often alongside regional investors, to the most promising early stage investments in Rise of the Rest cities. For more information, please visit: www.revolution.com/rotr or follow them on Twitter @RiseOfRest.
About Slingshot Aerospace
Slingshot Aerospace, Inc. (“Slingshot”) is an advanced analytics company that employs artificial intelligence to draw insights from a synthesis of satellite, aerial, drone and other contextual data streams for defense, disaster response, and commercial applications. Slingshot’s user-centered geospatial and space domain products close the gap between data analysis and critical decision making. Founded in 2016 and based in Austin, TX, and El Segundo, CA, Slingshot aims to significantly improve the value of data customers consume, allowing them to gain competitive advantage, reduce risk and lower costs. Visit www.slingshotaerospace.com, follow Slingshot Aerospace at @sling_shot_aero, Facebook and LinkedIn.
