What Development Seed does

Development Seed is a privately-held geospatial technology company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Washington, DC, with a second office in Lisbon, Portugal. The company builds cloud-native, open-source tools for earth observation, satellite imagery analysis, and mapping, serving primarily government science agencies (NASA, ESA, NOAA) and international development organizations. Its product portfolio includes eoAPI (cloud infrastructure for serving STAC collections), PEARL (AI-accelerated land cover mapping), Lonboard (high-performance Python geospatial visualization using GeoArrow and GeoParquet), OSMCha (OpenStreetMap validation, in operation for over a decade), Obstore (cloud storage for Python workflows), ML Enabler (on-demand ML for humanitarian mapping with HOT), and community platforms such as SatSummit, Global Nature Watch, the US Greenhouse Gas Center, and EOPF.

Name

Development Seed

Legal name

Development Seed

Website

https://developmentseed.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Geospatial Technology Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote Sensing & Geospatial Vision (satellite/drone imagery) (HDAAAEAL), Foundation Model Developers (LLM/Multimodal Model Labs) (HDAAACAA)

Keywords

• Geospatial data services
• Earth observation software
• Open source mapping
• Cloud native geospatial
• Scientific data engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government R&D Contracts: Development Seed generates revenue through performance-based government contracts. The NASA contract is structured as an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity agreement with a maximum potential value of $76 million over approximately 5 years (base period plus options through 2031). Services include scientific R&D support, system architecture, operations and maintenance, data curation, and AI/ML solutions development.
2. Scientific Research and Development Services: Provides scientific R&D support and data science expertise to government agencies and research institutions, including system architecture, operations and maintenance for data science tools and platforms.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Development Seed provides scientific research and development services alongside open-source geospatial software tools for government agencies and research institutions. The company delivers data engineering, AI/ML solutions, and cloud-native earth observation infrastructure (e.g., eoAPI, PEARL, Lonboard) that help organizations extract insights from satellite imagery and geospatial data. Its primary revenue comes from performance-based government contracts, notably a $76M NASA data engineering engagement at Marshall Space Flight Center.

Product overview

Development Seed is a geospatial technology company established in 2003 that provides a comprehensive portfolio of open-source tools and platforms for earth observation and mapping. The core offerings include eoAPI (modern cloud infrastructure for STAC collections), PEARL (AI-accelerated land cover mapping), and Lonboard (high-performance Python visualization). The product ecosystem spans computer vision tools for satellite imagery analysis (building detection, land cover classification), data standards platforms (STAC, GeoParquet), developer APIs (sat-api, EOPF), and community platforms (SatSummit, OSM tools). The company emphasizes open-source development with a focus on cloud-native geospatial workflows, AI/ML integration, and accessibility of earth observation data for decision-makers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• eoAPI: Modern cloud infrastructure for serving STAC collections and Earth observation data.
• Lonboard
• PEARL
• OSMCha
• OSM Teams
• ML Enabler

Products and services

• eoAPI Modern cloud-native Earth Observation API infrastructure for serving STAC collections and cloud-optimized geospatial data, used by organizations analyzing satellite imagery.
• PEARL AI-accelerated land cover mapping platform combining human intelligence with scalable AI for fast, accurate land cover classification.
• Lonboard High-performance geospatial data visualization library for Python using GeoArrow and GeoParquet for fast, interactive rendering.
• OSMCha OpenStreetMap validation tool for reviewing and validating map edits, used by the OpenStreetMap community and partners such as Wikimedia Italia and OSM-US.
• Obstore Cloud storage optimization library for Python workflows, addressing friction in cloud-native geospatial data processing.
• ML Enabler Machine learning integration tool that delivers on-demand ML predictions for mapping, built in partnership with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team.
• SatSummit Annual summit convening the earth observation and satellite imagery community for collaboration and innovation.
• Global Nature Watch
• US Greenhouse Gas Center Open information platform on greenhouse gases for the United States, built with open-source technology and collaborative efforts.
• KelpWatch
• Government R&D Services Scientific R&D support, data engineering, and informatics services delivered under performance-based government contracts, including AI/ML solutions for science data systems and operations and maintenance.
• Scientific Research and Development Services Data science and system architecture expertise provided to government agencies and research institutions, including data curation, operations and maintenance, and platform development.

Quantifiable outcome

• NASA contract valued at up to $76 million demonstrates ability to secure large government engagements
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

AI capability13 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Development Data LabminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 May 2026Economists from Development Data Lab collaborated on research studying residential segregation in India, analyzing 15 lakh urban and rural neighbourhoods across three Indian censuses. The research was published in The University of Chicago Stone Centre Working Paper Series.
• NASAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 April 2026NASA selected Development Seed to provide data engineering, informatics support, and R&D services for the Office of Data Science and Informatics at Marshall Space Flight Center. The performance-based contract has a maximum potential value of $76 million with a phase-in period starting May 15, 2026, a two-year base period, and three one-year options extending through June 2031.
• ESA (European Space Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment Seed works with ESA on earth observation projects including the European Open Science Cloud and Sentinel data processing. The company has contributed to eoAPI and EOPF (European Open Science Cloud) projects.
• Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on ML Enabler, a machine learning integration tool for mapping. Development Seed partnered with HOT to build AI-based mapping tools to empower mappers around the world.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Element 84: Element 84 is a direct peer providing cloud-native geospatial software engineering and earth-observation services, with deep involvement in the STAC ecosystem (a standard Development Seed also builds around). Both firms serve NASA, NOAA, and scientific agencies with similar cloud and AI capabilities.
• Azavea: Azavea is a geospatial software firm specializing in open-source mapping, remote sensing analytics, and civic/environmental applications, overlapping directly with Development Seed's open-source-first EO platform work and humanitarian/conservation use cases.
• Descartes Labs: Descartes Labs builds cloud-native geospatial analytics platforms for agriculture, sustainability, and government, closely mirroring Development Seed's positioning at the intersection of EO data, AI/ML, and cloud infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Planet Labs: Planet Labs operates a large commercial satellite constellation and analytics platform. While primarily an imagery provider rather than services, it increasingly competes with firms like Development Seed on EO-derived analytics and AI-driven land monitoring products.
• Esri: Esri is the dominant incumbent in GIS, with ArcGIS serving many of the same government and scientific customers. Its push into ArcGIS Online, imagery, and AI-driven spatial analytics makes it a broad competitor to Development Seed's open-source geospatial stack.
• Microsoft Planetary Computer: Microsoft's Planetary Computer provides a large-scale, cloud-hosted catalog of EO data and APIs. As a hyperscaler-built geospatial platform, it competes with Development Seed's eoAPI and STAC tooling for institutional cloud-native geospatial workloads.
• Google Earth Engine: Google Earth Engine is a planetary-scale geospatial analysis platform widely used by the same scientific and government customers Development Seed serves. Its breadth and free tier set a baseline that Development Seed's tooling must differentiate against.
• Maxar Technologies: Maxar is a major commercial satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence provider serving defense and government. It competes for EO-derived analytics contracts that overlap with Development Seed's federal work.
• Orbital Insight: Orbital Insight applies AI/ML to satellite imagery for commercial and government customers, including land use and supply-chain analytics. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Development Seed's computer vision and AI-for-EO capabilities.

Emerging players

• Safe Software (FME): Safe Software's FME platform handles spatial data integration and transformation, addressing overlapping use cases with Development Seed's sat-api, Obstore, and STAC tooling in geospatial ETL and cloud-native workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/developmentseed
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/development-seed
• Xx.com/developmentseed

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Development Seed