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
Ant Group Open-Sources SingGuard-NSFA to Establish New Security Paradigms for Autonomous AI Agents13.7.2026 12:01:00 EEST | Press release
Ant Group’s AI Security Lab today announced the open-source release of SingGuard-NSFA, a specialized security guardrail framework designed specifically for autonomous AI agents. The framework secures agentic AI systems against operational threats like prompt injection, addressing critical vulnerabilities as AI transitions from passive content generation to active, autonomous execution. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260712722454/en/ As AI agents rapidly move from research labs to business scenarios, the security landscape has fundamentally shifted. The explosive global adoption of open-source agent frameworks like OpenClaw, celebrated for their "one-click deployment" and "full-stack autonomy", has simultaneously exposed significant operational risks, including permission escalation and prompt injection. Industry frameworks, including the OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) Top 10 for Agentic Applica
Incyte Presents Phase 1/2 Multidose Data for VGA039 (Latarcibart) at ISTH 2026, Showing Substantial Bleed Reductions in Patients with all Von Willebrand Disease Types13.7.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Incyte (Nasdaq: INCY) today announced complete safety and efficacy data from all patients (n=16) enrolled in the Phase 1/2 multidose study of VGA039 (latarcibart), a novel, Protein S-targeting, investigational monoclonal antibody for patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD). The data are being shared in an oral presentation today at the 34th Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH 2026 Congress) in Paris. Latarcibart modulates Protein S to improve hemostasis, potentially enhancing the body’s ability to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes. Latarcibart is in pivotal Phase 3 development for patients with VWD, the most common inherited bleeding disorder. If approved, latarcibart has the potential to be the first, once monthly subcutaneous prophylactic therapy for patients with VWD, offering an important alternative to the frequent intravenous infusions of replacement factor concentrates commonly used in the prophylactic setting today. Gi
Europe’s Demand for Tech Services Accelerates in Q2, As Spending on AI and Managed Services Rises: ISG Index™13.7.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Demand for technology services in Europe continued to accelerate in the second quarter, as the region increasingly turns to managed services to reduce costs and cloud services to meet AI objectives, according to the latest state-of-the-industry report from Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. The EMEA ISG Index™, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value (ACV) of US $5 million or more, shows second-quarter ACV for the combined market (both managed services and cloud-based as-a-service) soared 46 percent—its largest growth in eight years—to US $13.0 billion. The latest quarter adds to a string of three straight quarters in which growth has averaged 33 percent. “Europe has become the fastest-growing region for technology services, fueled not only by an increasing demand for AI, but for managed services, which acts as a cost-savings lever to help fund AI ambitions and continued digital
Maureen Mahr von Staszewski Joins Heitman European Leadership Team13.7.2026 10:30:00 EEST | Press release
Heitman LLC (“Heitman”), a global real estate investment management firm, today announced the appointment of Maureen Mahr von Staszewski as Managing Director in the firm’s European Real Estate Investment team. As part of Heitman’s European leadership team, Maureen will help drive continued expansion across Europe, supporting the firm’s strategic growth initiatives, capital raising efforts, and investment activity across the region. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260713202147/en/ Maureen Mahr von Staszewski Joins Heitman European Leadership Team “We are excited Maureen has joined the Heitman team,” said Caleb Mercer, Managing Director and Head of European Investment at Heitman. “Her breadth and depth of experience in European real estate investment management will help strengthen our innovative and differentiated investment capabilities across traditional and alternative property types throughout Europe.” In h
LTM Partners with Anthropic to Accelerate Claude Adoption and Expand Enterprise Delivery13.7.2026 09:16:00 EEST | Press release
LTM, the Business Creativity partner to the world's largest enterprises, today announced a partnership with Anthropic, the frontier AI company behind Claude, to accelerate enterprise-scale adoption of Claude, Claude Code and Claude Cowork across engineering, modernization, and business workflows. LTM will combine Claude, Claude Code and Claude Cowork with its enterprise implementation expertise to help clients move from pilots to production with market-leading productivity, throughput, quality underscored by assurance and transparency. LTM will specifically bring this expertise and capability to BFSI, Hi-Tech, Consumer and Production Industry domains. The three strategic focus areas of partnership include: LTM BlueVerse™: AI Delivery Fabric LTM BlueVerse AI Delivery Fabric will serve as the enterprise implementation layer for Claude adoption, integrating Claude and Claude Code into delivery workflows across AI-led software engineering, application modernization, agent orchestration, Si
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
