As the American West confronts chronic drought, historic lows in Colorado River reservoirs, and the lowest snowpack on record following the winter of 2025–2026, cloud-seeding company Rainmaker has raised $100 million in a Series B round, bringing its total funding across three rounds in as many years to $131.3 million. The financing was backed by investors including NOA VC, Upfront Ventures, DCVC, Lowercarbon Capital, and Dream Ventures. Augustus Doricko serves as the founder and CEO of Rainmaker.
Cloud Seeding Start-Up Secures Major Funding Amid Regional Expansion and Regulatory Headwinds
The company’s operations utilize drones equipped with silver iodide flares to inject particles directly into winter storm clouds, a method distinct from the older manned aircraft and ground-based generators used by North American Weather Consultants, a firm Rainmaker acquired in October 2024 according to analyst firm Sacra. By burning silver iodide, the drones atomize water particles so they remain suspended in freezing clouds before turning into ice crystals and falling as precipitation. According to Doricko, each flight releases 20 grams of the compound across thousands of square kilometres, resulting in ground concentrations in the parts per quadrillion—well below Food and Drug Administration thresholds.
Measuring Results and Expanding Operations
Cloud seeding’s roots trace back to 1946, when General Electric Research Laboratory researchers used dry ice before silver iodide was identified as a more effective agent a year later. Historically, the practice has faced criticism for being patchy, with Utah Climate Center assistant state climatologist Jon Meyer noting that optimal conditions typically squeeze out an extra five to 10 percent of precipitation. However, Meyer highlighted that a landmark 2017 study observed silver iodide working as expected via radar and precipitation gauges, while newer drone technologies offer enhanced targeting capabilities.
Rainmaker has sought to address historical verification challenges by utilizing its own radar systems to measure precipitation. Earlier in the year, the company recorded 82 unambiguous seeding signatures over a four-month period, accounting for more than 145 million verified gallons of freshwater. Furthermore, during an operation near Homer, Alaska, in August, the team produced 19 million gallons in about three hours. The newly acquired capital is designated for expanding the atmospheric research team, scaling western state operations to combat drought, and driving down the cost of fresh water to compete with options like desalination.
Regulatory Oversight and Rising Legislative Bans
While states such as Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Jordan maintain established permitting processes—with Rainmaker securing Oregon’s first precipitation-enhancement permit since 1976 last year—broader political opposition is growing. Under a 1976 law, operators must report plans to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, though the agency tracks activity without authority to approve or block it.
Following the July Texas Hill Country floods that killed 119 people, social media falsely blamed a nearby Rainmaker seeding mission conducted two days prior, despite meteorologists, fact-checkers, and NOAA rejecting any physical connection. Nevertheless, the incident accelerated legislative pushback: Tennessee banned weather modification in 2024, Florida and Louisiana followed with outright bans—classifying cloud seeding as a felony in Florida—and roughly 30 states introduced similar legislation across 2025 and 2026 alongside a federal Clear Skies Act
proposal.
“The future of water is the future of everything,” Doricko said
, adding that the funding will let Rainmaker continue frontier atmospheric research and build the tech stack to end drought in the American West.
