In today’s world, the abundance of geospatial data captured by satellites orbiting above us has increased immensely. However, to convert this data into something useful requires extensive processing power and expertise in engineering. Former Uber engineers, Sina Kashuk and Isaac Brodsky, who played a crucial role in building the mapping system at Uber, decided to utilize their skills to tackle this problem. The result of their efforts is a lightning-fast, serverless-based product called Fused. Utilizing their own open source tools, this product simplifies the process of extracting data from its source and incorporating it into various applications.
“The main challenge that we had with Unfolded was it was very hard to get to market because the majority of the platform was open source and people were like. ‘why do I have to pay you guys, when I can just use the open source’,” Kashuk described, reflecting on their initial company, Unfolded.ai.
Fused consists of three components – it takes data from satellites, processes it into usable form, and finally presents it in visual representations of various phenomena such as weather patterns, deforestation rates, and crop data. These visuals can then be utilized in popular applications like Excel, Airtbale, and Notion. The key distinguishing factor of Fused is its simplicity and impressive processing speed.
Kashuk, now the co-founder and CEO of Fused, revealed that the company invested a significant amount of time in developing their current solution. After leaving Uber, they formed another business in 2019, aiming to tackle a similar data visualization problem. However, that company, Unfolded.ai, was quickly acquired by Foursquare.
“The main challenge that we had with Unfolded was it was very hard to get to market because the majority of the platform was open source and people were like, ‘why do I have to pay you guys, when I can just use the open source’,” Kashuk told TechCrunch.
This led to a major problem in their business model, and eventually, they encountered limitations due to the slow processing speed when attempting to run a front-end solution on a laptop. As they searched for their next business venture, Kashuk and Brodsky saw a significant opportunity in the data being collected by the ever-growing number of commercial satellites. They realized that despite advancements in technology, data processing on the back end remained a challenge and could be a profitable business.
- With the maturation of serverless computing, where the vendor handles all back-end infrastructure, the founders saw a chance to assist customers in processing this data efficiently in a shorter timeframe.
- The platform, known as a middleware processing layer, serves to convert geospatial data into a more consumable format. It comprises several open source components and a serverless processing engine – the source of income for Fused.
- Each time data is received by the API gateway to the serverless backend, Fused earns revenue.
The entire system is built with Python, a popular programming language among data scientists and developers. The process starts with a visualization template, which Fused offers as open source code. These templates, such as those for crop yields, can then be used in conjunction with other components of the Fused platform to extract specific data. For example, one could determine the wheat production in a particular state or region. This information can then be exported to other programs for further analysis or visualized directly from the platform. The key differentiator here is the incredible speed at which Fused processes these visualizations or implements changes – in seconds rather than hours.
One of the critical tools in creating these visualizations is the Fused Workbench, which the company has launched today. While partly open source, it still relies on the back-end API for optimum functionality. However, it allows users to interact with the data, view different aspects, and see changes in real-time.
After spending time testing with early beta customers, Fused has officially emerged from stealth today. Fontinalis Partners and various industry angels have provided $1 million in pre-seed funding for the company’s growth and development.
