On Thursday, Chantilly, Va.-based OGSystems, a developer of technology for the Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence community, announced its acquisition of Portland, Or.based Urban Robotics. Urban Robotics is a defense startup that advances airborne military intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications — developers of high-resolution 3D models for special operations mission planning. The acquisition will allow both companies to leverage each other’s technical development capabilities, resources like the Viper Labs innovation centers.
Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, with regional offices in Tampa, Florida, St. Louis, Missouri, Seattle, Washington, and San Diego, California, OGS employs over 300 geospatial engineers, software developers, data scientists and mission specific experts in the areas of cybersecurity, geospatial intelligence, and big data analytics.
Welcome to the OGS family, @UrbanRobotics. Looking forward to the great things we can create together!
— OGSystems (OGS) (@ogsystems) March 5, 2015
Founded in 2000, Urban Robotics is a mission critical hardware, systems, and services provider in the advanced geospatial imaging technology sector. One of its key products, the PeARL, is an imaging sensor that is flown on dozens of different aerial platforms in numerous active areas of operations throughout the world. The product works as a reconnaissance tool that can then accurately, based on scanned geography, recreate models through a 3D printer.
“The Urban Robotics acquisition complements OGS by matching our entrepreneurial and idea-driven culture and furthering our reputation for geospatial engineering innovation,” said Omar Balkissoon, CEO of OGSystems. “OGS is at the forefront of airborne data collection, and the incredibly detailed and immersive 3D point clouds Urban Robotics creates will help us continue to push the envelope in geospatial data fusion.”
As a new, combined, organization both companies will work to penetrate cross markets. Adjusting to their customer needs with software mash-ups, enabling a new series of products and customer experience. OGS will continue to service its established IC, DoD and commercial customers by providing new innovative products and large-scale project missions. That being said, Urban Robotics will remain in Portland as it begins work with OGS’s VIPER Labs locations across the country.
“Urban Robotics has found a true partner for growth with OGS,” said Geoff Peters, CEO of Urban Robotics. “Their technology focus, strong cultural and own-the-outcome attitude provides a natural fit.”
