Europe’s investment arm lends Sateliot a hand (Image Credit: Space News)
TAMPA, Fla. — The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending Sateliot 30 million euros ($32 million) to help the Spanish remote connectivity startup add 16 more nanosatellites to its low Earth orbit network before the end of 2025.
Robert de Groot, vice president for the European Union’s investment arm, said Dec. 4 the loan underlines EIB’s commitment to supporting Europe’s strategic autonomy in space and global connectivity.
Sateliot CEO and cofounder Jaume Sanpera told SpaceNews the venture also has commitments for 45 million euros so far in a Series B funding round with a 70 million euro target.
The company earlier raised 28 million euros in a mix of debt and equity for a constellation compatible with 5G protocols used by terrestrial telcos, enabling their customers to connect with the satellites with mass market tracking and monitoring devices.
The satellites are designed to collect small amounts of data from devices and transmit it back to a terrestrial network when a ground station is within range.
SpaceX deployed Sateliot’s initial four commercial satellites in August, which Sanpera said enables the company to start booking revenues next year from delay-tolerant customers in markets such as agriculture and mining.
He said the company has signed space-based roaming agreements to extend cellular coverage in more than 50 countries and with more than 400 companies. These agreements cover nine million devices and represent more than $250 million in annual recurring revenue.
Sateliot has previously said it has a sales pipeline of more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
Competitors include Australia’s Myriota and OQ Technology of Luxembourg.
Growing pains
Funding delays have held back Sateliot’s expansion plans.
After launching the first of two prototypes in 2021, the company aimed to deploy 16 spacecraft in time for commercial services to start as early as 2022.
In January, Sanpera said the company was also seeking to combine 30 million euros in expected Series B proceeds with project financing debt to deploy a total of 64 satellites in 18 months.
Sateliot has plans for 250 satellites in total to provide a near-real-time global service, including messaging services directly to smartphones using cellular networking protocols.
British small satellite specialist Open Cosmos supplied Sateliot’s first test satellite, while Bulgaria’s Endurosat built the second. However, the company has not disclosed a manufacturer for other satellites in the constellation.
The EIB loan is backed by InvestEU, the flagship EU program seeking to distribute more than €372 billion of additional public and private sector investment to support Europe’s policy goals from 2021 to 2027.
In January, EIB partnered with the European Commission and European Space Agency to improve access to financing for space companies in the region. The initiative aims to address concerns about a funding gap that could hinder the industry’s growth potential.
