Orbital Insight’s oil tracking analytics. Photo: Orbital Insight.

Orbital Insight, a provider of geospatial analytics, and RBC Capital Markets, the corporate and investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), formed a global partnership giving RBC Capital Markets access to Orbital Insight’s Consumer and Energy analytics products.

RBC Capital Markets will use this data to further advance its equity research products, taking advantage of the timeliness, objectivity and scale of geospatial analytics. By using artificial intelligence to automatically analyze data like satellite imagery, Orbital Insight is able to detect and track changes on the ground over time. Signals monitored include retailer parking lot car counts and crude oil storage tanks, among others.

“Investors seeking alpha can benefit from the insights provided by geospatial analytics,” said Kevin O’Brien, Chief Business Officer at Orbital Insight. “We’re excited to partner with RBC Capital Markets, a premier bank, as they seek to arm their clients with even greater value and insights through cutting-edge technology.”

As part of the partnership agreement, Orbital Insight and RBC Capital Markets will work collaboratively to develop future geospatial analytics products, leveraging in particular RBC’s expertise in the energy, mining, and location intelligence fields.

“At RBC Capital Markets, we are continually examining ways to innovate and drive greater value to our clients through thoughtful content and differentiated industry insights,” said Fardeen Khan, Head of Strategic Initiatives at RBC Capital Markets. “We are excited to partner with Orbital Insight, whose geospatial analytics will complement our existing rich data sets and help us deliver further advances in content that are rooted in innovation.”