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Startup launches innovative plan to revolutionize weather forecasts: 'There's a lot more urgency'

It runs entirely on open-source software.

A startup called Earthmover's is helping companies predict wildfire risks, forecast renewable energy output, and prepare for extreme weather events.

Photo Credit: iStock

A startup called Earthmover is taking on one of the biggest challenges in climate and weather tech, per TechCrunch — making sense of the massive amount of Earth data we collect every day. The company's mission is to help scientists, businesses, and energy producers turn that overwhelming stream of information into smarter, faster climate solutions.

Founded by oceanographer Ryan Abernathey and data scientist Joe Hamman, Earthmover began as a climate-focused data platform but recently pivoted to focus on real-time weather and geospatial data. The change reflects a simple truth — while climate models evolve slowly, weather patterns change by the minute. "That's where there's a lot more urgency around solutions," Abernathey told TechCrunch.

To power that mission, Earthmover has built a system capable of handling enormous datasets — measured in terabytes or even petabytes — across platforms like Google Cloud and AWS. Its tools can process data from satellites, sensors, and models in real time, helping companies predict wildfire risks, forecast renewable energy output, and prepare for extreme weather events.

That kind of predictive insight could prove game-changing for industries like insurance and renewable energy, which depend on understanding environmental shifts. One early customer, Kettle, uses Earthmover's platform to assess wildfire risk, while German energy giant RWE taps it to forecast renewable energy supply and demand.

Perhaps most exciting, Earthmover runs entirely on open-source software — meaning its innovations are transparent and widely shareable. By using community-built tools like Pangeo, Xarray, and Icechunk, the company ensures users retain access to their data even if the startup pivots or shuts down. That open, collaborative approach could set a new standard for how the world uses weather data.

More accessible weather analytics don't just make energy grids more efficient — they can also help reduce waste, improve climate resilience, and speed up the transition to clean energy. This innovation shows how data-driven tools can directly empower everyday people and protect the planet.

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With its $7.2 million seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital, Earthmover is proving that cleaner, smarter tech doesn't just forecast the future — it builds it.

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