Finnish satellite imagery startup Iceye has raised US$2.8m in a Series A round to help commercialise its cloud-penetrating instrument technology. The venture believes its non-camera based system will differentiate it an increasingly crowded market.
Finnish satellite imagery startup Iceye has raised US$2.8m in a Series A round to help commercialise its cloud-penetrating instrument technology.
US-based VC fund True Ventures led the round, joined by Silicon Valley’s Founder.org and Finland’s Lifeline Ventures.
It comes shortly after Iceye secured €2.5m (US$2.68m) in R&D funding in September from the European Commission’s EU Horizon 2020 programme, utilising its SME instrument.
The group will use the funds to build a quick-response, microsatellite constellation that it claims can see through weather and dark conditions that limit camera-based services.
It expects demand to come from industries such as logistics, insurance, and energy, as well as organisations monitoring the environment or providing search and rescue services.
“Governmental and military operators own and use radar satellites already,” said co-founder and CFO Pekka Laurila.
“We want to make this technology accessible to everyone at a commercially feasible cost level, which means reducing the satellite unit prices over 100-fold compared to traditional satellites.
“One of the ways we achieve this is by utilizing off-the-shelf mobile electronics and mass manufacturing.”
Growing demand for ‘big data’ solutions, coupled with the falling cost of accessing space, has spawned a number of imagery startups in recent years.
Earlier this week, Canada’s UrtheCast said it will shift the focus of its investment away from cameras mounted on the International Space Station towards a 16-strong Earth imaging satellite system, after getting about US$75m in firm orders for its services. The group made headlines in June when it bought Spain’s Deimos Imaging and its two in-orbit EO spacecraft.
Bigger headlines were made when Google acquired EO startup Skybox Imaging for US$500m last year, when the venture was just five years old.
Other activity in the market in recent months includes US imagery startup BlackSky Global raising funding for the first six of a 60-strong satellite constellation, and California-based Planet Labs acquiring geospatial solutions group BlackBridge, including its RapidEye constellation of imaging spacecraft.
Iceye believes its focus on non-camera based instruments will differentiate it from the growing Earth imagery competition.
Jyri Engeström, a member of the investment team at True Ventures, said: “The need and opportunity for Iceye’s satellites are enormous.
“From forest fires, to floods, to search and rescue operations, to agricultural uses, Iceye will be able to provide critical real-time information that today’s technology cannot. The market for this product is real and we believe this is the team to lead it.”
The nanosatellite and microsatellite market is set to grow from US$889.8m in 2015 to US$2.52bn by 2020, at an estimated CAGR of 23.2% during the period, according to a recent report from MarketsandMarkets analysts.
