Alexandria, VA based Element 84 has acquired Philadelphia technology company, Azavea, joining forces as a singular professional services firm focused on the open source geospatial technology ecosystem. As of February 16, 2023, Azavea has joined the company led by Tracey Pilone and Dan Pilone under the Element 84 name as a woman-owned small business.
The work conducted at Element 84 and Azavea addresses every step in the processing, visualization, and analysis of geospatial and Earth observation data. Through this work, the organizations share a commitment to civic, social, and environmental impact. In addition, Element 84 and Azavea both prioritize open technology ecosystems and contribute significantly to both open standards and open source software.
With a shared focus on open technology that supports positive change, the two companies are logical partners. “After over 20 years in the industry, this transition will enable Azavea to extend its innovation and impact-focused mission to serve a broader range of customers as well as leverage our geospatial software innovations, such GroundWork and Raster Vision, in new directions” said Robert Cheetham, founder and CEO of Azavea.
Post acquisition,the company will consist of over 100 employees, representing the best in cloud-native geospatial software engineering, machine learning, data analysis, project management, and UX design. The combined organizations will retain Azavea’s Philadelphia office as the new Element 84 headquarters.
“The combined team is brimming with talent and enthusiasm to solve geospatial problems that address climate change and sustainability challenges globally.” said Tracey Pilone, Co-Founder and President of Element 84.
“Being able to combine Azavea’s machine learning expertise and application of remote sensing data with Element 84’s ability to operate on petabytes of complex geospatial data means we can collectively go from orbiting satellite constellations to understanding water security, disaster response, and climate resilience. Our shared investment in the open source and open data communities means that not only can we do this, but we can also help others build solutions to better understand our changing planet.” said Dan Pilone, Co-Founder and CEO of Element 84.
Azavea’s current executive team will be integrated into Element 84’s leadership team. Robert Cheetham, current Azavea CEO, will become the Chief Strategy Officer of the combined organization.
