Weather is notoriously unpredictable. Its effects, which are only growing more intense with climate change, can be devastating—physically, financially, and emotionally.
Causal Labs wants to change that. The AI startup, founded by ex-Cruise machine learning engineers Kelsie Zhao and Dar Mehta, has emerged from stealth with $6 million in funding led by Kindred Ventures, Fortune can exclusively report. Refactor, BoxGroup, Factorial, Otherwise, Karman Ventures, and angel investors also participated in the round.
At Causal Labs, Zhao and Mehta are developing an AI model that goes beyond current weather forecasting technology. “More than just predicting the weather, our model is interpreting the weather to directly recommend what is the optimal action you need to take to get to your intended and the desired objective,” Mehta said. “So, for example, instead of just telling a farmer it’s going to rain, we can help a farmer determine the optimal time to harvest their crops or spray fertilizer in order to increase crop yields.”
The founders also want to do what traditional weather forecasting technology does, but better. Taking in data from satellites, their model provides updates in real time, whereas current weather prediction technology often takes upwards of six hours to generate updates, resulting in outdated weather forecasts, Zhao explained. Causal Labs’ model will also be more specific to users’ locations, rather than providing an average forecast across a large area.
These forecasts will be visible on a dashboard where users can zoom into their specific locations. For areas of the world without internet access, Causal Labs may need to provide its services a bit differently. “[W]hat most people don’t realize,” said Mehta, “is that the granularity and the level of the frequency of updates is actually 10 times, or even 100 times, worse in other parts of the world compared to the U.S.”
As weather affects virtually all sectors, Causal Labs has been testing across a wide range of industries. The startup’s intended customers are businesses and government agencies that rely on weather forecasts to operate, like in agriculture, aviation, or energy. “The way we are partnering with these companies is by understanding what is the key decision that they’re making based on weather forecasts,” explained Mehta.
While many large language models process reams of text to generate human-like writing, Causal Labs’ AI model is trained on data such as satellite images. “[T]here’s a very big distinction between what we’re doing and LLMs as we know it,” said Zhao. Causal intelligence also has to meet high safety standards, given its real-world use, something that the cofounders are familiar with from their work at Cruise. At the core of Causal Labs’ technology is the how and the why. “[We’re] building a physics model that understands how the atmosphere is going to evolve, understands the cause and effect nature of the atmosphere and how there’s inherent uncertainty in it,” said Mehta. Understanding how the weather works lets Causal Labs tell you what the weather is—which means you’re better prepared to deal with it.
See you tomorrow,
Nina Ajemian
Email: nina.ajemian@fortune.com
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Update: After publication, Causal Labs informed Fortune that the final amount raised was $6 million, up from the $5.5 million it previously indicated.
VENTURE DEALS
- Celestial AI, a Santa Clara-based photonic interconnect technology developer, raised $250 million in Series C1 funding. Fidelity Management & Research Company led the round and was joined by BlackRock, Maverick Silicon, Tiger Global Management, Lip-Bu Tan, and existing investors AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Temasek, and others.
- Mesh, a San Francisco-based crypto payments network, raised $82 million in Series B funding. Paradigm led the round and was joined by Consensys, QuantumLight Capital, Yolo Investments, and others.
- Norm Ai, a New York City-based regulatory AI agent developer, raised $48 million in funding from Coatue, Craft Ventures, Vanguard, and others.
- Scimplify, a Houston-based chemical development solutions provider, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Accel and Bertelsmann led the round and were joined by UMI and existing investors Omnivore and 3one4 Capital.
- Infinite Uptime, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based predictive maintenance and energy efficiency solutions provider for process industries, raised $35 million in funding. Avataar Ventures led the round and was joined by StepStone Group, LGVP, and existing investors Tiger Global and GSR Ventures.
- Worth, an Orlando-based onboarding and underwriting automation platform for the financial industry, raised $25 million in funding. TTV Capital led the round and was joined by Ingeborg, Florida Funders, Deep Work Capital, and Florida Opportunity Fund.
- OpusClip, a San Francisco-based generative AI-powered video editing platform, raised $20 million in funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and others.
- Junction, a New York City-based healthcare infrastructure company formerly known as Vital, raised $18 million in Series A funding. Creandum led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, Point Nine, and Amino Collective.
- Pragma, a Culver City, Calif.-based backend game engine, raised $12.8 million in funding from Greylock Partners, Upfront Ventures, Insight Partners, and others.
- Mimo, a London-based financial management platform for SMBs, raised $8.5 million in funding. Project A led the round and was joined by existing investors Northzone and Seedcamp.
- Seismic, a New York City-based encrypted blockchain, raised $7 million in seed funding. a16z crypto led the round and was joined by Polychain, 1kx, dao5, and NGC.
- Enter, a São Paulo-based AI legal agents developer, raised $5.5 million in funding from Sequoia Capital.
- GigaCrop, a Berkeley-based photosynthesis advancement company, raised $4.5 million in pre-seed funding. Playground Global led the round and was joined by Juniper Ventures.
- SaySo, a New York City-based retail clearance shopping platform, raised $4 million in funding from UP.Partners.
- PvX Partners, a Singapore-based consumer apps scaling platform, raised $3.8 million in seed funding. Play Ventures and General Catalyst led the round and were joined by angel investors.
- Podqi, a San Francisco-based AI automated brand protection solutions provider, raised $3.2 million in seed funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Soma Capital, Afore Capital, and angel investors.
- ZippedScript, a Toronto-based AI-powered education and employment verification solutions provider, raised $3.2 million in funding. Arcanum Capital, Right Side Capital, and New Stack Ventures invested in the $750,000 pre-seed round. Work-Bench led the $2.4 million seed round and was joined by existing investor New Stack Ventures.
- Thanks, a New York City-based ad network, raised $2.6 million in seed funding from Peak XV Partners, Founder Collective, and Side Stage Ventures.
- Sogni AI, a Singapore-based decentralized creative AI platform, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. Comma3 Ventures and Republic Ventures led the round and were joined by Contango Digital, Oyster Ventures, ARC, and others.
- JigsawStack, a decentralized AI stack infrastructure developer, raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from Ada Ventures.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- FTV Capital invested $36 million in 360 Privacy, a Nashville-based digital security solutions provider for high-profile individuals.
- ARCHIMED acquired BioVendor Group, a Brno, the Czech Republic-based diagnostics provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Chartbeat, backed by Cuadrilla Capital, acquired FatTail, a Calabasas, Calif.-based advertising revenue management technology developer. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Charterhouse Capital Partners agreed to acquire ESTYA, a Paris-based electronic fire safety and security solutions provider formerly known as ERIS. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Euna Solutions, backed by GI Partners, acquired AmpliFund, a Cleveland-based grant management services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- KNS International, backed by Centre Partners, acquired Birdies, a San Francisco-based women's footwear brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- RLDatix, backed by Five Arrows, TA Associates, and others, acquired IPeople Healthcare, a Lewisville, Texas-based business continuity and data accessibility solutions provider for healthcare providers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Shermco Industries, backed by Gryphon Investors, acquired Power Products and Solutions, a Charlotte-based electrical testing and maintenance provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Smartlinx, backed by Lone View Capital, acquired Bektek, a Hackensack, N.J.-based HR systems solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- TMA Systems, backed by Silversmith Capital Partners, acquired EQ2, a Camarillo, Calif.-based computerized maintenance management systems provider for the healthcare sector. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- PerkinElmer, backed by New Mountain Capital, acquired Project Farma, a Bethesda, Md.-based life sciences consulting firm, from Precision for Medicine. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Relias acquired InceptionXR, a Tel Aviv-based virtual reality healthcare training solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- WNS acquired Kipi.ai, a Houston-based data modernization and democratization services provider for the Snowflake platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
- Hinge Health, a San Francisco-based musculoskeletal care devices developer, filed to go public on the NYSE. The company posted $390 million in revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024. Insight, Atomico, 11.2 Capital, Coatue, Tiger Global, and Bessemer Venture Partners back the company.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Equator, a Nairobi-based venture capital firm, raised approximately $55 million for its first fund focused on energy, agriculture, and mobility startups in Sub-Saharan Africa.
PEOPLE
- Headline, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, promoted Taylor Brandt to partner.
- Portfolia, a San Mateo, Calif.-based investment firm, added Sheila Collins as a partner in its Rising America III Fund. Previously, she was at AARP Innovation Labs.
- Visionaries Club, a Berlin-based venture capital fund, added Judith Dada as a general partner. Previously, she was at La Famiglia VC.
