GroundMetrics Lands $2.7M to Expand Geophysical Survey Technology

GroundMetrics Electromagnetic Geophysical Sensing

San Diego-based GroundMetrics says it has raised over $2.7 million to advance its geophysical sensing technology in an extended Series B financing led by Cowboy Technology Angels, an Oklahoma angel group comprised of alumni and friends of Oklahoma State University.

GroundMetrics was founded four years ago with advanced electromagnetic sensing technology developed by Quasar Geophysical Technologies, part of San Diego’s Quasar Group of companies, which bills itself as a world leader in low-frequency electromagnetic sensing systems that operate at room temperatures (at frequencies from 0.01 Hz to 500 Hz).

As we reported previously, these electromagnetic sensors are sensitive enough to detect seemingly infinitesimal electrical currents deep underground—as well as variations in the conductivity among different types of geological formations. Because oil, gas, and carbon dioxide resist conductivity, the technology can help pinpoint underground oil and gas deposits.

In a statement, GroundMetrics CEO George Eiskamp says: “Having the Cowboy Technology Angels lead this round was a great endorsement of GroundMetrics. Their members are active in the oil industry and some even own and operate oilfields themselves. They understand the nuts and bolts of the business and have already facilitated key introductions. Our growth strategy is very much aligned with the Cowboys so we’re excited to have them at the table.”

The latest financing brings total investor funding for GroundMetrics to over $6 million since 2010. The Tech Coast Angels also participated in the deal, along with Crescent Ridge Partners, Harvard Business School Alumni Angels, the ACE Fund, and Peter Landin, a former managing director and CEO of the Americas for Barclays Global Investors.

In addition, GroundMetrics and Silicon Valley Bank are working together on a growth capital credit facility.

The funding is intended to help the company expand, increase its sales and marketing efforts, and hire additional field crews.

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.