WindBorne Wins US Air Force Contract Worth Up to $49 Million

American company WindBorne Systems has won a US Air Force contract to supply atmospheric data collected by a fleet of autonomous balloons, valued at up to $49 million, making it the largest contract the company has secured since its founding in 2015 in Redwood City, California, according to TechCrunch.

The fleet operates about 700 flying balloons around the world that collect readings from atmospheric sensors, which the company sells to its customers and feeds into its proprietary weather forecasting model. Under the contract, the Air Force does not pay the full amount upfront; instead, it requests data as needed, specifying regions and times. It has requested $1.7 million worth of data so far, with the company expecting additional orders to follow.

Co-founder and CTO Andrei Sushko said the contract serves as a tool to support the fleet's growth, in addition to research and development efforts to improve balloon hardware and performance. The contract was awarded without competition, which the company attributed to the government viewing it as the sole provider capable of delivering this global data collection capacity to meet its needs.

CEO John Dean told TechCrunch in August that the company had raised $37 million in a Series B round to expand its operations. WindBorne uses artificial intelligence for weather forecasting, and earlier this summer launched the "WeatherMesh 6" model, which it claims offers more accurate predictions than the traditional model of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Last August, the company became the first to send an unpowered flight system to collect data from inside a tropical cyclone.

What do these terms mean?

Series B: The second stage of funding in a startup's lifecycle, coming after the initial launch phase, and typically used to scale operations and increase production.

Sole-source award: Awarding a government contract directly to a single party without putting it out for competitive bidding, usually occurring when the supplier is the only entity capable of meeting the requirement.

Atmospheric data: Readings collected from the atmosphere, such as temperature, wind, and pressure, used in weather forecasting and feeding smart weather models.

Autonomous balloons: Flying balloons that operate without an onboard pilot, altering their altitude to leverage winds to reach required areas and collect data from them.