Equinor Ventures, Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures and Sumitomo Corporation Invests in Total 75 mNOK in Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Software Provider Earth Science Analytics
2.9.2020 09:30:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Earth Science Analytics AS, a Norwegian petroleum geoscience software provider, has raised a series B funding from Equinor Ventures, the corporate venture fund of Equinor, a broad energy company and the leading operator in Norway, Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures, the corporate venture subsidiary of Wintershall Dea, Europe’s leading independent gas and oil company and Sumitomo Corporation, one of the world’s largest general trading companies. The three new investors are joining Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, who first invested in the company in 2019.
Earth Science Analytics is spearheading the development of the next generation petroleum geoscience software based on artificial intelligence, physics- and data-driven approaches. Earth Science Analytics’ proprietary software package EarthNET, is a modern cloud-native application that allows faster, cheaper and more accurate prediction of rock and fluid properties in the subsurface. This leads to greater profitability and higher success rates for oil and gas exploration, development and production.
The funds will allow Earth Science Analytics to continue developing its unmatched cloud based geoscience software to the next level as well as expand its presence across the world.
Lisa Rebora, Senior Vice President in Equinor Exploration, commented “Digitalisation is impacting how we work, making it easier to analyse and be creative with data, improving how we collaborate and enhancing our understanding of the subsurface. We are always seeking to learn and improve, looking externally for those partners and innovators who can help us release the value of our data and the knowledge of our people. The Earth Science Analytics cloud-native solutions will contribute to empower more people to access data-driven and cutting-edge technology, and help generate more opportunities and value with increasing efficiency.”
Andreas Berger, Managing Director of Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures, commented “Our industry will be led by companies who integrate digital technology into all areas of the business and foremost in their key processes in order to gain value. The solutions of Earth Science Analytics will enable us to make data-driven decisions faster and more precise with direct impact on our bottom line.”
Kenichi Hotta, GM of Sumitomo Corporation Global Energy Service Department, commented “We believe that Earth Science Analytics (ESA) brings more digital capability to the industry. Together with ESA, Sumitomo continuously contributes to ongoing digital transformation initiatives by supporting process automation, cost reduction and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, initiatives such as our new ‘green’ subsurface businesses (including carbon capture and storage, geothermal development and underground energy storage) will greatly benefit from the use of ESA’s data-driven and cutting-edge technology.”
Kjell-Erik Østdahl, Chairman of Earth Science Analytics, commented “We are proud to welcome Equinor Ventures, Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures and Sumitomo Corporation as new institutional investors. Together we will continue to develop the technology to create a step change in geoscience interpretation using AI.”
About Equinor Ventures
Equinor Ventures is Equinor’s corporate venture fund dedicated to investing in attractive and ambitious early phase and growth companies. We believe that the innovation, creativity and agility of start-ups can drive change and transition the energy industry towards a low carbon future.
About Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures GmBH
Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures GmbH (WDTV) is the venture capital arm of Wintershall Dea, Europe’s leading independent gas and oil company. WDTV is responsible for integrating innovative concepts and technologies to the core businesses of the company. The aim of WDTV is to make investments into digital solutions and relevant break-through technologies and business innovations along the value-chain of our industry. The focus of investment is on cost reduction, increased recovery of hydrocarbons, reduction of environmental footprint or reduction of subsurface uncertainty.
About Sumitomo Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation (SC) is a leading Fortune 500 global trading and business investment company with 136 locations (Japan: 22, Overseas: 114) in 66 countries and regions. The entire SC Group consists of more than 900 companies. SC conducts commodity transactions in all industries utilizing worldwide networks, provides related customers with various financing, serves as an organizer and a coordinator for various projects, and invests in companies to promote greater growth potential. SC’s core business areas include Metal Products, Transportation and Construction Systems, Infrastructure, Media and Digital, Living Related and Real Estate, Mineral Resources, Energy, and Chemical and Electronics.
About Earth Science Analytics AS
Earth Science Analytics AS (ESA) is a Norwegian technology company developing the next generation web-based cloud-native geoscience software and solutions. ESA incorporates extensive knowledge and experience in geoscience, computer science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, to develop software and solutions for the energy industry. The software products provide geoscientists with opportunities to work with large data sets more efficiently and obtain more accurate results at a lower cost compared to what can be achieved with traditional methods.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200901006003/en/
Contact information
Equinor Ventures
Fredrik Jebsen Bråten, Communications Manager
Phone: +47 984 02 255
Email: fjbr@equinor.com
www.equinor.com
Wintershall Dea Technology Ventures GmbH
Dr. Andreas Berger, Managing Director
Phone: +49 561 301-0
Email: Andreas.Berger@wintershalldea.com
www.wintershalldea.ventures
Sumitomo Corporation
Kenichi Hotta, GM of Sumitomo Corporation Global Energy Service Department
Phone: +47 948 50 125
Email: kenichi.hotta@sumitomocorp.com
www.sumitomocorp.com
Earth Science Analytics AS
Kjell-Erik Østdahl, Chairman
Phone: +47 928 72 213
Email: contact@earthanalytics.no
www.earthanalytics.ai
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
OpenAI and Yubico Partner to Bring Custom Phishing-Resistant YubiKeys to OpenAI Users30.4.2026 20:13:00 EEST | Press release
Yubico (NASDAQ STOCKHOLM: YUBICO), the pioneer of phishing-resistant authentication and creator of the YubiKey, the gold standard of security keys, today announced an industry-first collaboration with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Beginning today, people can purchase a new 2-pack set of custom YubiKeys as part of OpenAI’s Advanced Account Security program – enabling them to secure their ChatGPT accounts with security keys, containing the strongest hardware-backed passkeys. Specifically designed for security-conscious users who are at increased risk of targeted digital attacks, the set includes a YubiKey C NFC for tap-to-authenticate on mobile, and a low profile YubiKey C Nano that stays in a port for everyday laptop use – both packed with modern authentication features for the highest level of protection. With OpenAI already using YubiKeys internally to protect their employees and infrastructure from sophisticated phishing, they are now bringing the same level of account security to
rhode Continues Its Global Retail Expansion Into Sephora Europe30.4.2026 19:00:00 EEST | Press release
rhode, the beauty brand founded by Hailey Rhode Bieber, will be available at Sephora online and in most stores across Europe beginning this September, following its 2025 rollout with Sephora in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. This expansion into Sephora Europe increases global access to rhode through physical retail, marking a pivotal next stage for the brand. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260430569580/en/ rhode continues its global retail expansion into Sephora Europe. rhode’s collection of high-performance, skin-focused products saw strong performance in Sephora U.S. and Canada as the biggest brand launch in the retailer’s history in North America. When launched in November 2025 in the U.K., rhode was also the largest brand launch in Sephora U.K.’s history. “I’m so excited to continue our partnership with Sephora as we launch into retail in Europe, bringing rhode to more of our customers in a physical and I
ABS Acquires RMC Global to Strengthen Cyber, Risk and Resilience Capabilities30.4.2026 18:46:00 EEST | Press release
ABS, through its affiliate ABSG Consulting Inc. (ABS Consulting), has today announced the acquisition of RMC Global (RMC), a leading provider of industrial cybersecurity, risk management and resiliency solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260430164690/en/ (L to R): Vince Kuchar, President, RMC Global, and David Wechsler, President and CEO, ABS Group The acquisition strengthens ABS Consulting’s capabilities and market position, bringing together two organizations with complementary expertise, shared values and a common mission. Combining RMC’s capabilities with ABS Consulting’s scale, technical depth and global resources, unlocks more integrated solutions for clients operating in increasingly complex risk environments. ABS Chairman and CEO John McDonald said: “Clients are facing increasing operational risk, cyber threats, and regulatory pressure. Bringing together the expertise of RMC and ABS Consulting s
Brightfin Unveils AI-Native Platform for IT Financial Management30.4.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Brightfin, the only ITFM and Technology Expense Management solution built natively on ServiceNow, today announced an AI-Native architecture that fundamentally improves how organizations manage IT spend. Rather than bolting AI onto legacy systems, Brightfin has engineered intelligence from the ground up - starting with the data, building contextual awareness on top of it, and delivering AI agents that speak the language of IT finance. Brightfin’s unified budget-to-billing data model creates a stable, governed foundation that connects contracts, invoices, inventory, and budgets into a single source of truth - something no external ITFM tool or native platform module can replicate. This is a structured financial backbone purpose-built for enterprise IT spend, and it’s what makes everything above it possible. A context-aware, AI-Native, intelligence layer understands relationships across the entire IT financial lifecycle - which vendors map to which services, which contracts are approachin
Andersen Consulting Strengthens Digital Transformation Capabilities with Weexa30.4.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Andersen Consulting enters into a Collaboration Agreement with Weexa, a global provider of digital transformation, B2B integration, and supply chain digitalization solutions. Headquartered in France, Weexa delivers end-to-end services that help organizations streamline, secure, and scale their digital ecosystems. The firm specializes in B2B data-flow management and digitalization, enabling seamless communication between applications both within and across organizations through technologies such as EDI, APIs, and e-invoicing. Weexa also provides SAP integration and supply chain solutions spanning warehouse and transport management, alongside strategic consulting, project delivery, and third-party application maintenance. Serving organizations across the food, retail, wholesale, logistics, transportation, automotive, healthcare, and media sectors, Weexa supports global businesses in optimizing performance while meeting evolving regulatory and digital-compliance requirements. “Collaborati
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom