Climate tech vorteX-io secures €2.9M for flood risk analysis

Climate tech vorteX-io has raised €2.9M to provide hydrological data provider for sustainable water management during droughts and floods. The Toulouse-based startup offers businesses flood risk alerts and water resource optimization. 

Also backed by the European Innovation Council, vorteX-io aims to deploy 3,000 stations across Europe by 2026 to model major river basins.

This funding, led by Banque des Territoires and MAIF Impact alongside AFI Ventures – Ventech’s impact fund – and SpaceFounders France, supplemented by bank financing, will enable the company to accelerate the deployment of its network of connected micro-stations and its Maelstrom platform.

Europe is experiencing an increase in extreme weather phenomena, resulting in a growing number of natural disasters, exposing 11% of the population to the risk of flooding and a third of the territory to water stress. Climate change is prompting governments and institutions to gain a better understanding of water resources in order to manage them more sustainably.

Based on satellite altimetry techniques, vorteX-io’s solution measures the key hydrological parameters of rivers and streams (water height, surface velocity and imagery) in real time. The data is analysed on its Maelstrom platform, which provides strategic services to public and private decision-makers: real-time notification in the event of risk, optimization of water management for local authorities, securing infrastructures, anticipation of agricultural and industrial needs. 

Winner of the 2023 EIC Accelerator program, vorteX-io has already received a 2.5 million euros grant from the European Innovation Council for its WHYLD (Worldwide HYdrological Large-scale Database) project, aimed at creating the first European real-time hydrological forecasting service. By the end of 2024, 1,000 micro-stations will have been deployed in France and Croatia, two European countries at high risk of flooding. 

“Our aim is to provide decision-makers with strategic tools and services that will enable them to improve their water management and better forecast extreme weather phenomena such as droughts and floods, major challenges for the safety and resilience of territories,” commented Jean-Christophe Poisson, co-founder and CEO.