Salient
Salient Predictions is a Cambridge, MA-based AI company that delivers subseasonal-to-seasonal weather forecasts (1 day to 1 year ahead) using deep neural networks trained on ocean, land, and atmospheric data, serving enterprise customers across agriculture, energy, insurance, and finance via subscriptions, APIs, and channel partnerships such as BASF/xarvio.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersCambridge, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Salient does
Salient Predictions is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based AI company that delivers subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) weather forecasts spanning 1 day to 1 year ahead. Its core product is a deep-neural-network forecasting platform trained on approximately 4 billion climate predictors drawn from ocean, land-surface, and atmospheric data, with a proprietary ocean-inertia methodology derived from decades of MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution research. The system generates 5 million API data points weekly at 1/4-degree (25km) global resolution and is wrapped in a 30-year backtesting library and probabilistic ensemble outputs for verification. The GEM-1.0 and GEM-2.0 architectures represent the company's next-generation decision-aligned forecasting systems.
The company monetizes through enterprise subscriptions for forecast data and industry-specific analytics (agriculture, energy & utilities, financial services, supply chain), API access delivering raw gridded NetCDF data, and professional services under the Salient Acceleration Services brand. Distribution combines direct enterprise field sales, an API-first product surface at api.salientpredictions.com, and channel partnerships — most prominently a global commercial agreement with BASF Digital Farming that embeds forecasts inside the xarvio agronomic decision engine reaching farmers in 100+ countries, plus partnerships with Enwex (renewable energy indices) and TomorrowNow (East Africa).
Salient is a privately held Delaware corporation founded on research originating in 2017, with CEO Matt Stein joining co-founder and President Dr. Raymond Schmitt in February 2022. The company has raised approximately $11.6 million across a $5.4M seed round led by Wireframe Ventures (with Munich Re Ventures and others), a $3M EIC Rose Rock investment, and roughly $3.2M in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, NOAA SBIR (Phase I and Phase II), NSF SBIR, and MassVentures. Operations span Cambridge, MA and Tulsa, OK, with named enterprise customers including BASF, AB InBev, Zurich Insurance, Camus Energy, and Enwex.
Salient firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Salient
- Legal name
- Salient Predictions, Inc.
- Website
- https://salientpredictions.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Salient Predictions is a Cambridge, MA-based AI company that delivers subseasonal-to-seasonal weather forecasts (1 day to 1 year ahead) using deep neural networks trained on ocean, land, and atmospheric data, serving enterprise customers across agriculture, energy, insurance, and finance via subscriptions, APIs, and channel partnerships such as BASF/xarvio.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Salient industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Weather Forecasting Software & Climate Risk Analytics
- NAICS
- Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Scenario Planning, Forecasting Platforms & Planning Intelligence (HDAAAHAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Supply Chain, Logistics & ETA Prediction (HDAAAHAF), Early Warning, Event Monitoring & Forecasting (Extreme Weather Alerts, Nowcasting) (EUABALAJ)
Keywords
Where Salient is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Salient business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Weather Forecast Subscriptions: Enterprise subscription-based access to subseasonal-to-seasonal weather forecasts and industry analytics. Pricing likely tiered based on forecast depth, geographic coverage, and analytics complexity. Annual or multi-year contracts typical for enterprise accounts.
- API Data Access: Raw forecast data provided through APIs in gridded NetCDF format. Technical enterprise customers integrate data into their own products, dashboards and forecasting tools. Likely usage-based or tiered subscription model.
- Industry-Specific Analytics Products: Vertical-specific solutions for agriculture, energy, insurance, and finance with customized forecast parameters and decision tools. Revenue generated through dedicated industry analytics subscriptions.
- Professional Services (Salient Acceleration Services): Scientific and business experts collaborating with customers to accelerate new analytics and uncover new ways to leverage forecasts. Consulting and customization engagements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise subscription - Custom pricing |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Salient product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Salient Predictions operates an AI-powered subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) weather forecasting platform that uses deep neural networks trained on ocean, land-surface, and atmospheric data to deliver probabilistic forecasts from 1 day to 1 year ahead. The platform delivers forecasts via map-based decision tools, raw NetCDF API data, and industry-specific analytics for agriculture, energy, financial services, and supply chain customers, claiming 2x accuracy improvement over competitive forecasts.
Product overview
Salient offers an AI-powered weather forecasting platform as its core product, delivering predictions from 1 day to 1 year ahead using deep neural networks trained on billions of machine learning predictors. The platform provides industry-specific analytics for agriculture, energy, financial services, and supply chain sectors. Access is provided through decision tools, map interfaces, and APIs delivering gridded data. Key modules include Energy Demand Forecasting for HDD/CDD predictions, Renewable Energy Supply Forecasting for solar/wind/hydropower, and specialized analytics for agriculture and insurance. The BASF partnership integrates forecasts into BASF Digital Farming's agronomic decision engine.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- AI-Powered Weather Forecasting Platform Core platform providing AI-powered weather forecasts spanning 1 day to 1 year ahead using deep neural networks trained on billions of machine learning predictors. Offers claimed 2x accuracy improvement over competitive forecasts with 5 million API data points generated weekly at 1/4 degree global resolution.
- Weather Forecast API
- Decision Tools Interface option coupling forecasts and industry analytics to decision tools including threshold alerts and recommendations to shorten time to insight.
- Map Interface Web-based interface including forecast maps, probability plots, historical performance graphs, and comparison forecasts at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
- Agriculture Analytics Industry-specific forecasts for agriculture helping drive efficient and sustainable practices through optimal seed marketing, crop input selection, yield forecasting, and trading/pricing decisions.
- Energy Analytics Forecasts for energy and utility companies assessing factors impacting supply, demand, distribution, and network operations including thermal generation needs, CDD/HDD energy demand, and asset maintenance scheduling.
- Financial Analytics Seasonal forecasts supporting insurance underwriting, risk transfer product design, and commodity trading alpha generation for financial organizations.
- Supply Chain / Logistics Analytics Forecasts for optimizing shipping conditions for perishable goods, pricing cargo based on transportation constraints (e.g., river levels), and producing/stocking based on weather variables.
- Salient Acceleration Services Professional services engagement where scientific and business experts collaborate with customers to accelerate new analytics and uncover new ways to leverage weather forecasts for profitability and preparedness.
- GEM-2 Weather Model Decision-aligned AI weather forecasting architecture designed for tail risk and operational use cases, including the GEM-1.0 (March 2025) and GEM-2.0 (January 2026) versions.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2X accuracy improvement over competitive forecasts
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Salient
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Salient technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature7 records
Salient partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- EnwexcorePartnership to deliver forecast intelligence for renewable energy indices. Integration of Salient's S2S forecasts with Enwex Index for advanced renewable risk management and energy trading decisions.
- TomorrowNowcorePartnership to make sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasting technology accessible for East Africa. Collaboration to improve climate-informed decision-making for smallholder farmers in the region.
- BASF Digital Farming (xarvio)coreGlobal commercial agreement with BASF to provide long-range seasonal weather forecasting data integrated into BASF Digital Farming's agronomic decision engine. Salient's forecasts power precision agriculture decisions at global, regional, and farm-by-farm levels. BASF's xarvio platform serves farmers in over 100 countries.
- University of Oklahoma School of MeteorologyminorExpanded partnership with University's Applied Climate Dynamics Group. Dr. Jason Furtado joins Salient's Science Advisory Board. Collaboration for S2S extreme weather forecasting research and student opportunities.
- ClimaticsminorPartnership to develop sophisticated hydrology, snowpack, and river flow models. Coupling Salient's long-range temperature and precipitation forecasts with Climatics' site-specific water and energy forecasting for hydropower and water resource management.
- ARGO (Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography)coreLeverages ARGO float network data - approximately 4,000 robotic profiling floats dispersed globally monitoring ocean temperature and salinity every 10 days. Core data source for ocean conditions analysis.
- GuidewireminorNamed to Guidewire InsurTech Vanguards Program for insurance technology innovation and market exposure.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Salient competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Tomorrow.io: AI-powered weather intelligence platform offering short- and long-range forecasts via APIs and decision tools for aviation, logistics, agriculture, and on-site sensing. Closest direct competitor to Salient in AI-driven enterprise weather SaaS.
- Jupiter Intelligence: Climate risk analytics platform providing physical climate risk scoring and forecasting for financial services, insurance, and infrastructure. Overlaps with Salient in S2S risk-informed decision support for insurance and energy customers.
- aWhere: Weather and agronomic data analytics platform focused on smallholder agriculture in emerging markets. Directly comparable to Salient's Gates Foundation-funded East Africa work and agriculture vertical analytics.
- ClimateAI: Climate intelligence platform applying ML to enterprise supply chain, agriculture, and consumer goods risk decisions. Closely comparable to Salient's industry analytics modules and supply chain vertical.
- Prescient Weather: Subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasting and climate services firm — direct technical peer where Salient's Brian Zimmerman previously worked. Competes in the same S2S forecast skill niche.
Broad incumbents
- DTN: Established provider of weather, climate, and agricultural intelligence for energy, agriculture, and commodities markets with global operations. Competes in Salient's core verticals but with a much broader product portfolio and incumbent customer base.
- IBM / The Weather Company: Global weather data and forecasting platform serving enterprise media, aviation, retail, and energy customers with significant ML investment. Incumbent scale, brand recognition, and data infrastructure dwarf Salient's, but lacks Salient's ocean-inertia specialization in S2S.
Emerging players
- Cervest: AI-driven climate risk analytics for asset-level decisioning in real estate, infrastructure, agriculture, and financial services. Comparable in using probabilistic ML forecasts for enterprise climate decisions, though with longer-horizon asset risk focus.
- Spire Global Weather: Satellite-based radio occultation weather data provider offering forecasting services with proprietary global observations. Emerging differentiated data source that overlaps with Salient in enterprise weather data sales, though via satellite vs. ocean-inertia approach.
Others
- Maxar Technologies: Earth intelligence and geospatial analytics provider serving defense, intelligence, and commercial markets with weather-adjacent climate and environmental monitoring. Adjacent in serving insurance, energy, and government customers with climate-informed analytics.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Salient social profiles
Digital presenceSalient financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Salient leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Salient funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors12 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Salient M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Salient
What does Salient do?
Salient Predictions operates an AI-powered subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) weather forecasting platform that uses deep neural networks trained on ocean, land-surface, and atmospheric data to deliver probabilistic forecasts from 1 day to 1 year ahead. The platform delivers forecasts via map-based decision tools, raw NetCDF API data, and industry-specific analytics for agriculture, energy, financial services, and supply chain customers, claiming 2x accuracy improvement over competitive forecasts.
Is Salient a public or private company?
Salient is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Salient founded?
Salient was founded in 2017. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Salient based?
Salient is headquartered in Cambridge, United States, in the North America region.
How does Salient make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Weather Forecast Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are API Data Access, industry-Specific Analytics Products and professional Services (Salient Acceleration Services).
Who are Salient's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Tomorrow.io, Jupiter Intelligence, aWhere, ClimateAI and Prescient Weather. Broad incumbents are DTN and IBM / The Weather Company. Emerging players are Cervest and Spire Global Weather. Maxar Technologies is listed as an others.
Does Salient have an API?
Yes. Salient provides raw forecast data in gridded NetCDF format through APIs that can be integrated into digital products, dashboards, and virtually any forecasting tool. API access is available at https://api.salientpredictions.com with 5 million API data points generated weekly.
What industry is Salient in?
Salient's product category is Weather Forecasting Software & Climate Risk Analytics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAHAL, Scenario Planning, Forecasting Platforms & Planning Intelligence, with a secondary code of HDAAAHAF, Supply Chain, Logistics & ETA Prediction. Its NAICS code is 54136 and its SIC code is 7370.