MONTREAL – Private equity firm Novacap has made a strategic investment in Leading Edge Geomatics, a New Brunswick-based provider of aerial survey and geomatics services and solutions. Novacap’s investment will accelerate expansion into new markets, drive strategic acquisitions and continue investments in research and development.

Yong Kwon, partner at Novacap, commented: “Over the last decade, Leading Edge has delivered best-in-class aerial lidar services and industry leading solutions to the forestry, utility and other sectors and we look forward to partnering with the company to help execute an aggressive growth plan and truly bring the business to new heights.”

Leading Edge provides end-to-end aerial lidar surveying services, complete with unique data processing capabilities and decision support solutions. The company owns and operates its fleet of aircraft for lidar data collection for end-users across various industries. The company has developed a proprietary forestry inventory management solution, combining lidar terrain and surface products to offer forest professionals the combination of forest metrics and terrain data that lead to an improved management strategy and efficiency in operations.

Leading Edge’s founders – Bruce Hogan, Bill Kidman and Will Lowry – will continue to operate the business and maintain a significant interest in the company’s ownership.

“We see tremendous growth opportunities in the market for Leading Edge and know we have picked a strong partner with deep operational expertise to help us deliver on this potential,” said Bruce Hogan, CEO.