Buoyant Ventures — our inaugural investment — Raptor Maps

‍Buoyant Ventures — born in COVID, seeking solutions for climate risk

Our mission at Buoyant Ventures is to invest in entrepreneurs who use digital technology to help mitigate against, and adapt to, climate change. We seek solutions for the industries contributing the most to carbon emissions: energy, transportation, agriculture, and the built environment. We want to be a catalyst for the transformation to a clean, resilient future. We seek exceptional returns — both financially and environmentally — and are proud today to announce our first investment in the Series A round of Raptor Maps.

Raptor Maps — born at MIT, scaled worldwide

Raptor Maps’ founders, CEO Nikhil Vadhavkar and CTO Eddie Obropta, met in class at MIT studying aeronautics more than five years ago and founded a company that bridges the physical and digital worlds.

The company’s foundational image processing technology uses thermal and optical camera images of solar arrays, often captured using drones, to identify a wide range of issues — from damaged panels to shading to problems with tracking systems. Being able to identify and then address these issues helps owners and operators squeeze every last kWh of clean, renewable energy from each site at the lowest possible cost.

In a few short years, Raptor Maps has scanned more than 20,000 MW of solar in 30+ countries. Truly a scalable business! Building from this core, Raptor Maps is rapidly becoming the data and analytics hub for all the participants in the solar value chain— from developers, engineers, system owners, maintenance companies, lenders, and equity investors. Raptor Maps acts as a unifying data source enabling transparent data sharing and record keeping. Like Carta for solar power.

Partnerships are key — it takes a village, investors, syndicates, and entrepreneurs

We are grateful to our investors for their support to help us further our mission. Many worthwhile opportunities are competing for capital, especially during COVID. We’re proud that our investors are stepping up NOW to advance climate solutions. We are also thrilled to be investing in Raptor Maps alongside a leading syndicate of partners, including existing investors Blue Bear, Congruent, and Powerhouse Ventures, as well as new investors Data Point and Skyview and Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

Nikhil, Eddie, and the Raptor Maps team are dedicated to building the best-in-class tools to help scale clean, zero-carbon solar power for years to come, and Buoyant is proud to give them a boost.