The environmental engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV has acquired Sussex Innovation member Ambiental for an undisclosed sum, to accelerate the growth of its flood-related digital services and strengthen its position in the (re)insurance market.

The infrastructure, industrial and insurance sectors are continuously looking for better insights to predict flood risk and prevent damage or economic losses to people and assets caused by flooding, with the risks of extreme flooding events rising as a consequence of global climate change. Ambiental employs new technologies in data science, natural hazard modelling and forecasting to improve flood resilience, reduce losses and manage risk.

“This marks a special day in our journey to grow our global impact and our mission to offer customers continually enhanced, flood-related innovation and digital services,” said Ambiental’s CEO Dr Justin Butler. “We are confident that our considerably enhanced global presence and footprint, with our combined unique data analytics, human resources and engineering expertise, will greatly contribute to our product offering.”

“We are excited to welcome the Ambiental team with their high-precision, productised analytics and data solutions,” said Royal HaskoningDHV CEO Erik Oostwegel. “Together we can help our clients to better understand and reduce risks from flooding and other natural hazards using digital services and market-leading intelligence, ensuring that money spent on flood risk modelling and management delivers the greatest possible impact on communities, corporates and infrastructure.”

Ambiental are one of the Sussex Innovation Centre’s longest-standing tenants, having originally joined as members in 2004. Last year, founder Dr Justin Butler spoke about his journey and the company’s time with Sussex Innovation:

Ambiental is a global specialist in flood modelling, flood risk, and climate change and natural hazard analytics.