SnapPlanet is the winning startup of the Copernicus Masters ESA App Challenge in 2016 and the Space App Camp 2017 at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona. The winning app “SnapPlanet”, enables users to capture beautiful pictures of the Earth while also contributing to a greater mission; to raise the awareness of our living planet. Founded in the spring of 2016 by Jérôme Gasperi as a spin-off from the French Space Agency (CNES), the aim was the easy capture of Earth images from space, to then share and discuss what you see, and to notify users of changes that matter.
At the Toulouse Space Show in June 2016, the startup was selected to pitch at the Startup Village. After having received great feedback from the space community, Jérôme decided to submit his mobile application SnapPlanet to the Copernicus Masters “ESA App Challenge” in 2016. Having won the prestigious Challenge, Jérôme’s business jump-started due to high media interest in his application and his involvement in the first edition of the Copernicus Accelerator, which is an exclusive coaching programme for the top entrants of the Copernicus Masters. Within this coaching programme, Jérôme receives continuous support from his experienced mentor Alain Arnaud, Space Business Consultant at Mercator Océan. In February 2017, SnapPlanet confirmed its strong business potential once again by winning the top prize at the Space App Camp at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Since March 2017, SnapPlanet is incubated at the ESA BIC Sud France.
The Earth observation Social Network
At its core, SnapPlanet provides a “photographic centric” mobile application to create beautiful images of the Earth from space within seconds, thanks to the freely available ten meters Sentinel-2 imagery. These data ensure a free high-resolution snapping service for all users. These “snaps” can be annotated, commented and shared, making SnapPlanet a great tool for disseminating data and communicating about current issues such as conflicts and natural disasters or environmental changes.
By combining the ever-increasing availability of Earth observation (EO) images with the advantages of a social network for everyone, SnapPlanet wants to drive new uses of EO data to educate and communicate about the social, economic and environmental issues that we face today on a global scale.
Next Steps
The mid-term objective of the startup is to provide users with free data from other sensors as well, like Landsat 8 or Sentinel-1. Another main objective is to build partnerships with commercial providers of EO data to give access to metric to sub-metric data including both satellite and UAVs imagery.
Join the First EO Network Now!
SnapPlanet is available on the iTunes store.
The first Android version was published a few weeks ago.
Find out more about SnapPlanet on the official website.
Dr Jérôme Gasperi
CEO and founder
SnapPlanet
Words from the Mentor:
SnapPlanet is the most innovative EO project I have seen in the last 20 years, as it aims at changing the paradigm of EO data use. Such data have always been a playfield for different kinds of experts, in the field of satellite technology, space imaging, image processing as well as in value-adding services for users not directly related to Earth observation. SnapPlanet wants to create benefits for everyone around the globe. It is the first EO project to address the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) market. And this is an extraordinary defy!
Taking advantage of the new sources of EO data, starting from the generous Sentinel 2 up to commercial sub-metric mission, SnapPlanet wants to put the Earth in the pocket of any smartphone user. A unique way for any provider to distribute and share its EO data.
As it always happens in business, in order to make things really simple for a non-expert user, you need to be an excellent expert in your field. That’s the recognised background of Jérôme in EO and image processing. His great capabilities lie in linking these qualities to a remarkable artistic sensing of the user’s need.
Our task is now to give value to this raw diamond: changing the EO paradigm into a B2C approach, where the large number of data generated by users can also generate value. That’s the challenge for the company. But the success of SnapPlanet will come together with the unique opportunity to make EO data available for everyone. And this is a challenge for the entire EO community.
Alain Arnaud
Space Business Consultant
Mercator Ocean
