With its AI software ‘DeepWaive’, the Aachen-based start-up FloodWaive is developing an innovative solution for calculating urban and water-related flooding risks in the event of heavy rainfall and flooding. Thanks to the fusion of physics-based models with high-performance AI algorithms, precise and scalable forecasts are possible in a matter of seconds throughout Germany, the DACH region as well as IT, LU, UK and USA. Thanks to the combination of weather forecasts with various geodata, such as terrain, infrastructure, soil and water data, DeepWaive calculates in real time where and to what extent flooding will occur and where the risks are highest. In order to be able to use the system worldwide, the company successfully applied for funding from the European Space Agency (ESA). The start-up was supported by the NRW.Europa team at ZENIT GmbH.

In addition to early warning, local authorities, districts, engineering offices, insurance companies and businesses use the software to plan preventive measures to reduce risk and damage. Although the software is already available on the market and its functionality has been proven, its global scalability is still limited. Although high-quality data sets are available in many industrialised countries, they are often lacking in developing regions. However, it is precisely there that people are particularly affected by extreme weather such as heavy rainfall. FloodWaive wants to use its AI tools in these areas as well to minimise damage to life and infrastructure worldwide.

The company currently uses freely accessible data with very good quality and resolution in industrialised countries as well as specific area data at the customer's request. In order to expand the application on a global scale and create a complete ‘digital twin’, additional data sources, such as satellite data for earth observation (SatEO), must be integrated. However, due to the large number of SatEO data sources, this is a costly and time-consuming task for which FloodWaive was looking for funding.

NRW.Europa/ZENIT support from the Enterprise Europe Network
The journey to ZENIT GmbH in Mülheim was not a long one. FloodWaive and the NRW.Europa team had already met in 2023 during a start-up consultation. Thanks to the support they received when applying for the ‘EXIST Start-up Grant’ funding programme, the Aachen-based company received a positive funding decision just three months later and founded their company in November 2023.

For the current project, the funding team identified a thematic call in the „European Space Agency (ESA)'s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme“, which promotes the development of solutions related to digital twins, climate change and green transformation. The Enterprise Europe Network supported FloodWaive throughout the application process. This included

- designing a project that utilises space resources (as required by the call)
- understanding the funding and contractual mechanisms of the ESA programmes and
- coaching for the preparation of the application.

The project received a funding commitment of 75,000 euros, which covers 75 per cent of the costs for the planned feasibility study. The aim of the study is to evaluate which SatEO data can be integrated into the software platform in order to increase functional performance and scaling.

‘This lays the foundation for the development of extended, comprehensive functions that will enable us to scale and expand our service for improved early warning and risk mitigation.  We also want to increase resilience to extreme weather events outside Europe and support the UN's Early Warnings for All initiative,’ says Dr Julian Hofmann, CEO and co-founder of FloodWaive. And CTO Adrian Holt adds: ‘Start-ups and companies looking for funding for their innovative ideas should definitely make use of the expertise of the NRW.Europa funding team to increase their chances of funding.’

Link to NRW.Europa:
ZENIT GmbH / Enterprise Europe Network
for North Rhine-Westphalia NRW.Europa
Marcus Collier-Wright
Telephone: 0208 30004-54
E-mail: Marcus.Collier-Wright@zenit.eu

Link to the company:
Homepage FloodWaive GmbH: www.floodwaive.de
Instagram: @floodwaive
LinkedIn: FloodWaive

Picture credits: Flood, source: Pixabay

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