What the business is
Planette is a Bay Area startup using AI-boosted climate science to produce risk forecasts for businesses.
The bet
Near-term forecasts, quarterly or seasonal, are the underserved slice that businesses will pay for through an API, even among many weather-AI startups.
Starting capital
$2.4M led by Audacious Ventures, with Jetstream, Dash Fund and Graham & Walker.
How it started
Co-founders Hansi Singh, a former professor of physical climate science, and Kalai Ramea, a former associate director at PARC, combined climate science, AI and quantitative modelling.
What happened
Planette graduated from Techstars Seattle's latest accelerator (24 startups, three months) and pitched at Demo Day in January 2024, offering year-to-year granularity at 25-km resolution worldwide. It had three letters of intent in energy and utilities, a pilot with the largest US public municipal utility and talks on a United Nations partnership.
What has to be true
Business planning around seasons falls between weather forecasts and long-term climate projections
The founders combine climate science and machine learning expertise, which investors cited as the reason to back them
An API fits into existing operational workflows, lowering adoption friction for utilities
Utilities are exposed to weather and climate risk to resources and operations
What can be applied
In a crowded field, specialising in one forecast horizon and one buyer segment can be the differentiator, but early traction is letters of intent and pilots, not revenue.
Aftermath
As of 14 February 2024 Planette had closed its $2.4M round and was early stage, with letters of intent and a pilot but no disclosed revenue. GeekWire noted competing startups, such as WindBorne Systems, and some experts' scepticism that AI will replace traditional forecasting models.
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