As the University of Luxembourg’s first space spin-off, Databourg Systems has already shown early signs of promise. With its innovative approach to monitoring rain data, Databourg Systems hopes to soon become the leading rain data provider in Latin America and Africa and expand its range of services.
As average global temperatures keep increasing, so do the occurrences of extreme weather events. While Luxembourg and Western Europe have generally kept a safe distance from such events, this year’s floods made it clear that we are no longer immune to them.
To better prepare against such flooding events, one not only needs better evacuation protocols but especially better rain monitoring systems data. This is where Databourg Systems, a University of Luxembourg, SnT’s spin-off comes into play.
Founded in 2017, Databourg Systems, is the brainchild of CEO and founder Ahmad Gharanjik. The idea for the startup first came to him while he was researching how to reduce the impact that rainfall has on the signal quality of satellite communications. What Ahmad realised was that he could repurpose the signal quality data with dedicated machine learning algorithms and transform it into real-time rainfall data.
This crucial observation has far-reaching implications, especially for less economically developed countries.
“We don’t have reliable rain data, especially in underdeveloped countries in Africa or Latin America. The rain data is important because it has a lot of applications, such as weather forecasting, agriculture and flood warning systems,” says Ahmad.
Whereas most Western countries have the financial resources to buy expensive rain sensors, less economically developed countries do not. With flooding events expected to continue to increase – especially in the Global South – Databourg Systems’ rain data may prove crucial for these countries to adapt to new weather extremes.
“The rain data is important because it has a lot of applications, such as weather forecasting, agriculture and flood warning systems.”
Ahmad Gharanjik
Building New Services
Already available all over France, Databourg Systems has taken important steps to validate its product. With its proprietary algorithm doing the same job as expensive rain sensors at a fraction of the cost, Databourg Systems is ready to expand its service to other countries, especially in Latin America and Africa.
“Our goal for this year is to have our first country in Latin America and to be the best provider of rain data in the area,” says Ahmad.
While providing rain data is part of its current core business, Ahmad assures me that this is just the beginning for Databourg Systems.
“The first phase is providing this data as a subscription, but in the second phase we will be building our own product. Instead of just selling rain data, we want to build tailored products for different verticals such as flood early warning systems or decision support tools for agriculture for example. Once we get there, we can also adapt our business model to suit the needs of our clients,” says Ahmad.
From the small country of Luxembourg, Databourg Systems has big ambitions, hoping to eventually be known globally as ‘The Rain Company’.
Editor’s note: This article is brought to you by Luxembourg-City Incubator and reflects only the opinion of the author.
This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Read the full digital version of the magazine on our website, here. You can also choose to receive a hard copy at the office or at home. Subscribe now.
