Data-gathering satellite firm Open Cosmos has raised £40 million in a Series B funding round.
Founded in 2015 with a team of 70 people based across the UK, Spain and Portugal, it is looking to expand into Latin America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific region.
The company, which is EBITDA positive, had previously raised $7m. This new huge round of investment was led by ETF Partners, Trill Impact and A&G and included Accenture Ventures, Banco Santander InnoEnergy Climate Tech Fund, Claret Capital Partners and angel investors Taavet Hinrikus and Kheng Nam Lee.
Open Cosmos’ mission is to allow all organisations to access the benefits of satellite data and insights to address global issues such as the climate crisis, the energy transition or the sustainable use of natural resources.
It can deliver end-to-end telecommunications, Earth observation, navigation and scientific missions.
It designs, builds, launches and operates advanced satellites through its OpenOrbit offering; enables organisations to access and share data via its mutualised OpenConstellation infrastructure and offers AI-powered data analysis from a growing range of satellite sources and analytic partners via its DataCosmos platform.
Open Cosmos satellites include Menut, which launched in January 2023 and delivers images monitoring deforestation, wildfire impact, flooding and coastal erosion. Some of the satellites due to launch in the next few months include MANTIS, funded through UKSA and in partnership with ESA, which 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; and Platero, contributed by Spain, which will combine Earth observation and IoT on the same satellite to monitor biodiversity and provide real-time insights in the context of natural catastrophes.
All three satellites feature a multi-sensor design, which will also enable them to join the OpenConstellation, whilst critical data gathered through their monitoring will become part of the DataCosmos platform.