Sorcerer - Weather balloons that collect 1000x more data
Sorcerer builds weather balloons that last for over six months, collecting 1000x more data per dollar from previously inaccessible regions.
Hey YC! We’re Max, Alex, and Austin, the team behind Sorcerer.
The problem & background
Hundreds of terabytes of weather data are collected from satellites, ground stations, airplanes, and weather balloons every day. In-situ weather observation has the most impact on weather models, but it’s incredibly expensive to collect. The US National Weather Service spends over a billion dollars annually just on its network of weather balloons, stations, and aircraft sensors. Despite this cost, there are still places in the US where we don't know what the temperature will be two days from now. And for the 80% of the world that lacks any weather infrastructure? There’s always the weather rock.
The solution
We’re launching a global network of persistent weather balloons to provide real-time data in previously unreachable locations. Each balloon remains airborne for over six months, completing ~30 laps around the globe while navigating between sea level and 65,000 feet. We’re able to collect 1000x more data per dollar than current systems, and we use this unique data to train AI weather models that are up to 50% more accurate than today’s best forecasts.
The Team
As founding engineer at aerospace startup Urban Sky, Max developed the world’s first stratospheric ballooning systems for high-resolution imaging and wildfire tracking. As employee number three at Urban Sky, Alex built their mission control and flight prediction engine from the ground up (“the best in the world” - US Secretary of Defense). Austin was an ultralight flight instructor before he could legally drive and was most recently Head of Product at SumUp, shipping highly regulated hardware at scale.
How You Can Help
- Industry intros: We’d love to talk with aerospace, commercial aviation, ocean freight, logistics, and commodities trading execs (these folks think weather data is pretty neat)
- If you find one of our balloons near SF: Sorry! It’s still a work in progress (and please get it back to us)
We’d also love to hear from you! Reach out any time at austin@sorcerer.earth
Best,
Max, Alex, & Austin
