Open Cosmos, a Harwell, UK-based space tech company, raised $50M in Series B funding.
The round saw participation from ETF Partners, Trill Impact, A&G, Accenture Ventures, Banco Santander InnoEnergy Climate Tech Fund and Claret Capital Partners, Taavet Hinrikus and Kheng Nam Lee.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its growth, delivery and international expansion, broaden its offering and continue to deliver market innovation.
Founded in 2015 by CEO Rafel Jorda Siquier, Open Cosmos designs, builds and operates satellites to simplify access to space, empowering organisations worldwide to use satellite data to solve key challenges. Satellites have a range of use cases. Their onboard technology, when combined with AI applications, can measure greenhouse gases, while providing data on global temperature trends and can help monitor the extent of polar ice caps, sea levels, and ocean currents. EO imagery provides enhanced coverage of forests, allowing for the detection of deforestation. During natural disasters, satellite imagery provides real-time data, helping to assess the extent of damage and coordinate relief efforts, while satellites equipped with specialised sensors can detect and monitor oil spills quickly before they are even visible from the ground.
Some of the satellites due to launch in the next few months include:
- MANTIS, funded through UKSA and in partnership with ESA, will produce high-resolution imagery to monitor logistics, energy infrastructure and natural resources
- IOD6, in partnership with the Satellite Applications Catapult, which will focus on monitoring the Atlantic coastal and maritime areas
- PLATERO, contributed by Spain, will combine Earth Observation and IoT on the same satellite to monitor biodiversity and provide real-time insights in the context of natural catastrophes
Today, the company has a team of nearly 70 people distributed across the UK, Spain and Portugal and is looking to expand into Latin America, Middle East and Asia Pacific in due course.
FinSMEs
11/09/2023