Exclusive: Sorcerer raises $3.9M for weather balloons
Sorcerer, a Y Combinator weather balloon startup, has raised a $3.9 million seed round, the company tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Better weather data could help companies and governments navigate risk and extreme weather, but current methods are lacking.
Zoom in: FCVC led the round, and was joined by Y Combinator, Collab Fund, Transpose Platform, Pioneer Fund, New Legacy and First Order Fund. Angels in the round included Kulveer Taggar and Taro Fukuyama.
Sorcerer co-founder and CEO Austin Tindle says the funds will be used to increase the number of balloons to meet the demand of early customers and partners in sectors like weather services, aviation and aerospace.
Tindle says Sorcerer is working with the U.S. National Weather Service and the government of El Salvador.
How it works: The company has developed a small, super-pressure balloon that can constantly change its altitude between the stratosphere and the surface.
The balloons carry sensors, a solar panel and a satellite connection, and collect data about the temperature, wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric pressure and humidity.
Other companies have developed similar weather balloons, but Tindle says Sorcerers are significantly smaller and lighter because they only need solar power to change altitude and don't carry a consumable like ballast.
Sorcerer says its balloons can last in the skies for months at a time, longer than other weather balloons.
The intrigue: Sorcerer is also using its weather data to develop weather AI models that is says can deliver more accurate and higher quality forecasts
Catch up quick: The company went through the Y Combinator program in the summer of 2024.
The big picture: Many areas of the world outside of the U.S. and Europe lack adequate weather data.
Weather data can be crucial to governments to plan for extreme weather events, and key to companies like utilities, insurance firms, and farmers.
Better weather forecasting will be increasingly important as weather becomes more extreme with climate change.
Follow the money: AI weather prediction is a hot sector, with deep-pocketed players like Nvidia and Google involved in the technology.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TechCrunch
an hour ago
- TechCrunch
11 startups from YC Demo Day that investors are talking about
At Y Combinator's Spring 2025 Demo Day on Wednesday, nearly every presenting startup had something to do with AI — they're either developing AI agents or creating tools to facilitate their development. Indeed, several founders seem to be taking a leaf out of the pages of several successful AI startups: about half a dozen startups were presenting variations of 'Cursor for X.' For example, Den is building a 'Cursor for knowledge workers,' and Vessence is on its way to make a 'Cursor for lawyers.' It wasn't all only about AI, though. We noticed several startups are working on robotics, which seems to be having a bit of a revival at the moment. Below are some of the startups that caught both investors' and our attention. Anvil What it does: SEO for LLMs Why it's a fave: How people search for content is changing, with folks using various AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity to find content. Understandably, brands need to find a way to increase their visibility on these platforms. Anvil claims it helps brands measure, optimize and increase their presence on these AI tools. Atum Works What it does: Builds 3D chips Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW Why it's a fave: Transistors aren't getting smaller as fast as they used to, so Atum's founders propose the best new way to put more transistors on a chip, and therefore increase processing power, is to stack them in three dimensions. Investors told me that Atum's vision is so revolutionary that the company has a chance to become the next NVIDIA. Auctor What it does: Automates enterprise software implementation Why it's a fave: The startup says prominent software vendors like SAP, ServiceNow, AWS and Box have already reached out to use Auctor's solution themselves and potentially for help with integrating software at customer sites. Cactus What it does: AI copilot for solopreneurs Why it's a fave: Cactus says people who run businesses all by themselves are often too busy to pursue new opportunities. The startup says its AI bot can take off some of the load by answering calls and accepting payments on your behalf. Den What it does: Cursor for enterprise knowledge workers Why it's a fave: Investors told me this is one of the hottest companies in the batch. Den promises its AI agents can replace Slack and Notion, enabling a company's employees to interact and share information with software tailored to each enterprise's specific needs. Eloquent AI What it does: Automates customer operations with AI Why it's a fave: Eloquent says its AI bots can help customers of financial services companies do things like automatically unfreeze bank accounts or add drivers to car insurance policies. In other words, Eloquent promises an end to long waits for human customer service. The startup claims financial companies can deploy its AI near instantly without needing to involve internal engineering teams. Eloquent has already raised 'a large seed round,' Tugce Bulut, the startup's co-founder and CEO said on the TBPN podcast. LLM Data Company What it does: Tooling for evaluation and reinforcement learning Why it's a fave: Evaluating all the new AI tools for quality is snowballing into a big, difficult problem. LLM Data Company says it can help with its own LLMs that can evaluate the quality of an AI agent, and it's already working with customers including Perplexity. Scalar Field What it does: AI-powered Bloomberg terminal Why it's a fave: 'Terminals are dashboards and not thinking tools,' says Amandeep Singh, co-founder of Scalar Field. While the startup's AI agents won't 'think' for you, it claims they can manipulate financial data with more flexibility than existing financial tools. Sygaldry What it does: Quantum accelerated AI servers to speed up AI training and inference Why it's a fave: While a fully functioning quantum computer may still be years away, the industry has been making progress. What caught my eye about Sygaldry is that its co-founder and CEO is Chad Rigetti, who founded and took his company public via a SPAC in 2021. Vybe What it does: Vibe coding to build applications Why it's a fave: Investors who saw a demo of Vybe building apps told me that it can create all sorts of cool tools. One person I talked to even called it a 'clear winner' of the batch.
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Scoop: Tucker Carlson buys out investors in his media company
Tucker Carlson and his business partner, Neil Patel, recently bought out investors in their media company, Tucker Carlson Network (TCN), a source familiar with the deal tells Axios. Why it matters: The deal gives the pair complete independence and total control of the company they co-founded in 2023. "It's hard to claim you're independent when other people own your company, so we decided not to take investments or loans of any kind," Carlson told Axios in a statement, confirming the deal. "Our business is owned by the people who work there. You can disagree with our opinions but you can't say we're paid to have them, and we're proud of that." Catch up quick: Carlson and Patel raised roughly $15 million for TCN from a group of investors in late 2023 after Carlson parted ways with Fox News. The pair have a long history, having co-founded the Daily Caller together in 2010. Patel currently serves as co-founder and CEO of TCN. The bulk of the cash raised for TCN came from 1789 Capital, which was founded by banker Omeed Malik to invest in "anti-ESG" companies. State of play: 1789 Capital's investment is structured as a SAFE (simple agreement for future equity), Axios reported. The SAFE structure allowed Carlson to convert his investors' cash into equity if he later chose to raise more money at a set valuation. Yes, but: When TCN became profitable more quickly than expected, they became less inclined to raise another round. And with no plans to sell the company, a buyout offered liquidity for existing investors. Because of TCN's profitability, investors saw a positive return on their investment, according to one source familiar with the transaction. Between the lines: The success of product investments outside of TCN also gave Carlson and Patel the confidence to buy back their company. Carlson and Patel launched a nicotine pouch product called ALP last year as a joint venture with Turning Point Brands, a publicly traded smoking accessories company. TPB's share price has skyrocketed by nearly 30% since ALP's launch announcement in November, reaching an all-time high last month. Before launching ALP, Carlson was a supporter of ZYN nicotine pouches, produced by tobacco giant Philip Morris International. He created a rival product after criticizing PMI over political donations made by the company's employees. What they're saying:"We have had a great start at TCN. We have also started other ventures, including our ALP nicotine pouch brand which has really taken off," Patel said in a statement to Axios. "This strong start gave us no need for outside capital and gave us the ability to buy out all of our investors and achieve absolute independence. We are grateful to our investors for backing us at our start and happy to have provided them a strong return on their investments." What's next: TCN's business is primarily driven by consumer subscriptions, as well as some advertising.
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Best Austin day ever with Andy Roddick Foundation CEO
With summer's start, things have heated up with the Austin-based Andy Roddick Foundation and its CEO, Jaime Garcia. Why it matters: The foundation tries to address the opportunity gap by running after-school and summer camps for kids in poorer communities around Austin. "Those that can fund it are giving their kids more and more experiences, and those that can't are just falling behind during the summer, and they're having to relearn their math and reading all over again," Garcia tells Axios. By the numbers: Last year, 220 children from Harris, Hart and Pecan Springs elementary schools — in East and Northeast Austin — attended the foundation summer camps. The chief aim of the camps is to keep up and improve academic skills with 6-to-1 student-to-teacher ratios. "That's like a private school experience," she says, noting outings to museums and spelunking activities at caves. "The two biggest barriers for any child attending after-school and summer care are cost and access." Threat level: President Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would zero out funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, the only federal funding stream dedicated to afterschool and summer programs, per the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for access to afterschool programs. As part of our running feature asking Austinites about their best day ever, we met up with Garcia to talk about her ideal day. Garcia grew up in Houston and came to Austin to attend the University of Texas, where she majored in biology before getting a master's degree in business at Texas State. She and her husband have raised two daughters in southwest Austin. This interview has been edited for clarity. How does your ideal day begin? "I love meeting our foundation partners at Mozart's and ask how I can support them. Or I go for one-on-ones around the lake, where I find peace and where I love to run — I've run four marathons." What's next? "I'm probably hosting a summer tour — it's important for corporations to come through and see the work that's being done. Closing that learning gap means working together. They might see a teacher working on a STEM project with kids. Or how we bring in roller skates and entire kits — how it's tough at first, but how they get the hang of it by week two." What are you doing for lunch? "I might meet at the Grove with a supporter of the foundation. They make a great kale salad." You're meeting with families, too? "I love the foundation's family nights — we'll serve pizza to the kids and their families at one of the schools, and they can do something like create art together. And we always have middle schoolers and high schoolers who have been through the program who rush in — they love helping out." And what about you and your family? "We try to get dinner together. If we're going out, we love Cabo Bob's." "I grew up in a family where my mom made tortillas every single day of my life. We didn't even use forks because we used tortillas to eat our food. So I'm very picky going into a restaurant — if it's store-bought, it doesn't work for me. Hence Cabo Bob's — they've got homemade tortillas — and they're fun, too."
