It has been a privilege for Promus Ventures to back the talented Helsinki-based ICEYE team since early 2018. With this latest round, ICEYE has now raised $304M of capital since 2015 and hired over 300 people. The team has successfully launched 16 satellite missions since its first satellite was launched four years ago. The new capital will be used to continue to expand its constellation increasing visiting frequency and reducing time to access, as well as growing its global footprint and platform.
We have long been bullish on Synthetic-Aperture Radio (“SAR”) imaging as an impactful earth observation thesis but the miniaturization of this technology was still a dream. When we first met the team in 2017, it was clear that co-founders Rafal Modrzewski and Pekka Laurila were no-nonsense, hardworking visionaries that had a clear plan of where they were going. In these early days, they had a deep grasp of every area of the technology and business, including the large expected capital needs to build out the constellation. This focus has led to their execution success over the years, and board meetings measured their tangible success achieved each quarter.
Rafal and Pekka met at Finland’s Aalto University in 2014. Studying radio science engineering, the two quickly began tinkering with satellites. At the time, conventional wisdom stated that microsatellites could not perform radar missions. Aperture size is a major barrier, along with power, satellite life and a host of other issues. Too young to care, the duo set out to prove the naysayers wrong and today own and operate the largest SAR constellation in the world.
Unlike traditional Earth observation satellites, ICEYE’s SAR satellites form high-resolution images of the Earth multiple times per day, regardless of weather or light conditions. The team has been building out its natural catastrophe analytics platform for some time now, offering commercial solutions for insurance, weather response and recovery, national security, and humanitarian relief.
ICEYE designs and manufactures its SAR satellites in Helsinki, Warsaw, and Irvine, California. Its successful expansion into the US has enabled the company to additionally serve US government demand for SAR satellites. Last month, ICEYE launched two of its satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida, which marked the first satellite built, licensed and operated by ICEYE US.
It is horrendously cliché to say the team has only just begun, but we will echo The Carpenters in stating this fact. The scope of what ICEYE has set out to accomplish is grandiose in scale, and they attack their master plan in a level-headed and thoughtful manner. Just don’t tell them something’s not possible — as they have done since university, they will only push harder to figure it out before anyone else does.
ICEYE’s Series D press release can be found here.
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