Ellipsis Drive

Ellipsis Drive is a Netherlands-based software company offering a data management platform that lets users store, organize, collaborate on and share geospatial data. The platform is positioned as an interoperable "drive" for spatial content: users connect or upload raster and vector files and the system indexes and renders them for use in workflows, online maps and web services, in both 2D and 3D, regardless of data size. The company states that professionals can activate, manage and share spatial content via the web in under 10 minutes, with collaborators able to view and edit projects from any browser.

Core capabilities described on the company's site include building a scalable, searchable spatial data catalog by connecting existing storage without configuration; publishing and visualizing data through standard protocols and stacks; and integrating data into third-party software with a single line of code. Interoperability and platform independence are presented as design principles, with the stated aim of keeping users in sync across different tools and protocols and avoiding version-control and release-management friction. The company also states it does not charge per-seat or per-action fees for data sharing.

Ellipsis Drive serves several industries and user groups, including developers and data engineers who embed spatial data into their own applications. Customer quotes on the site come from 52IMPACT, Geoserve and Science [&] Technology Corporation, and the company names Satellogic, SkyWatch and Spacety among organizations using the platform to share data with their clients.

Founding story

Founded in 2018 in Ede, the Netherlands, by Daniel van der Maas, Minghai Jiang and CEO Rosalie van der Maas, around a collaborative platform allowing any professional to activate, manage and share spatial content via the web in under 10 minutes.

Business model

Ellipsis Drive sells its spatial data management platform in two deployment models: a self-service, off-the-shelf SaaS product aimed at small businesses, project-based companies and startups, with published pricing and a free trial; and a private deployment aimed at enterprises, governments and product-driven companies, installed on top of the customer's existing storage and network, with federated identity login, configurable security settings, custom tenant branding and guided onboarding. The company states it avoids per-seat and per-action fees for data sharing and using.

Software subscriptions across a self-service SaaS tier with free trial and flexible scaling, and private/on-premise deployments for larger organizations.

Traction

Company figures cite 500+ data products delivered, 3,000+ users consuming spatial content and 600+ projects completed using the platform. Named users and customers referenced include Satellogic, SkyWatch, Spacety, 52IMPACT, Geoserve and Science [&] Technology Corporation.

Latest developments

Ellipsis Drive markets both an instant SaaS offering and a private deployment option that can be installed on existing storage with federated identity and custom branding, and continues to publish industry articles, including pieces on 3D readiness of spatial data infrastructures and a feature involving HERE Technologies.