CEO Rafal Modrzewski inspects one of the corporate’s satellite tv for pc {hardware}.
ICEYE
Finnish satellite-imagery undertaking ICEYE has raised $136 million in new budget, the corporate introduced on Thursday, because it appears to be like so as to add to its spacecraft fleet in orbit and additional expand its product line in herbal disaster detection.
The most recent spherical a bet capital fundraising, led by means of U.Okay. fund Seraphim Area, brings the whole to $304 million since ICEYE’s founding seven years in the past.
“This financing has actually been constructed across the additional enlargement of the herbal disaster product line,” ICEYE CEO co-founder and CEO Rafal Modrzewski informed CNBC, including that “flood tracking is actually the high product presently … [but] we need to quilt wildfire, we need to quilt wind, we need to quilt hail.”
Modrzewski declined to specify ICEYE’s new valuation after the fundraising, however mentioned the rise “used to be related to the former rounds” and that the corporate is “very happy” with its enlargement.
In step with Pitchbook, ICEYE’s earlier fundraising put its valuation at about $320 million, and makes for a brand new valuation at over $1 billion, given its historic enlargement charge.
A number of prior traders contributed in ICEYE’s newest spherical – together with Molten Ventures, OTB Ventures, True Ventures, C16 Ventures, Area Capital, Chione, Products and services Crew of The united states, and the U.Okay.’s Nationwide Safety Strategic Funding Fund – in addition to two ICEYE shoppers, BAE Techniques and Promus Ventures.
ICEYE focuses on combining a distinct form of imagery, known as artificial aperture radar (or SAR), with a sort issue the scale of a suitcase – decreasing the price of launching more than one satellites to create a community that may symbol puts on Earth more than one instances an afternoon. SAR satellites are ready to seize photographs of the skin at evening and thru clouds, a key benefit over conventional imaging satellites.
The corporate has deployed 16 satellites in orbit so far, and plans to make use of the brand new budget to assist release as many as 10 further ones this yr.
The Grand Bahama island observed prior to and all the way through Typhoon Dorian, as critical flooding lined a lot of the island.
ICEYE | gif by means of @thesheetztweetz
The expansion of that fleet is the most important to ICEYE increasing its Nature Disaster (NatCat) Insights and Answers product line, as a result of extra eyes within the sky permit the corporate to discuss with sights extra ceaselessly.
Modrzewski mentioned the corporate’s greatest buyer teams for the NatCat unit are governments and insurance coverage.
“We see large investments from entities like [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] or the Eu Area Company to grasp floods higher and to reply sooner,” Modrzewski mentioned. “However we additionally see a large initiative coming from throughout the insurance coverage trade – to deliver new era, given what is taking place to the local weather.”
ICEYE is based totally in Helsinki, Finland, however has established a U.S. presence up to now yr with a producing facility in Southern California. The corporate introduced its first U.S.-built satellite tv for pc in past due 2021, and remaining month gained a learn about contract from the Nationwide Reconnaissance Place of business, which is an anchor buyer of the U.S. Earth intelligence marketplace.
For now, ICEYE does now not have a timeline to move public, which Modrzewski known as “an enormous resolution.” He mentioned he does now not assume ICEYE will move public in a yr or two, however added it “want to have that possibility inside of that time period.”