Democratizing Satellites

India’s successful lunar mission attracted eyeballs for two reasons – the low project costs as well as ISRO’s readiness to share data with other countries. The need for democratizing space technology seems to be catching on now as a UK-based startup has raised $50 million to place low-earth orbit satellites and manage system data through them. 

Open Cosmos says the funds would be used to make access more democratized through its innovative platform that allows multiple organizations to use single satellites or a constellation to share data they collect with each other. Like India’s space mission, the company, in existence since 2015, gained recognition when they launched a satellite on a shoestring budget. 

Enterprise use-cases of space tech

The company currently works with several space agencies and large enterprises in the engineering, systems and security business as well as agriculture. Open Cosmos claims that their platform, hardware and systems can be used for several applications, though its key focus is on energy and climate monitoring. 

Co-founded by three Spanish aerospace engineers, the company seeks to provide its capabilities only to those wanting to be good actors in the chosen domains. Rafel Jorda Siquier, CEO of Open Cosmos told TechCrunch that the satellites will eventually degrade and break up as they re-enter the atmosphere, but leave no parts behind to count as space debris. 

While the technology is still under development and utilization is just beginning, the investors led by ETF Partners, Trill Impact and A&G lead the round. However, what’s unique is that others such as Accenture Ventures, Banco Santander, IREON, Wille Finance and Claret Capital Partners seem to be showing support to Open Cosmos and its future opportunities. 

In fact, Accenture announced that they are open to forming an alliance with Open Cosmos to run data projects for its customers, especially with sustainability in consideration. Market experts believe this investment is a standout given the current state of startup investing, where PEs more than VCs seem to be loosening their purse strings. 

Data that enterprises can use for their clients

At a time when startup fundings have virtually dried up, especially in the second quarter, and most of what is available is going to artificial intelligence, the $50 million spent on space tech could just be the start of something big. Funding to this sector in the first half of 2023 grew 120% compared to the second half of 2022. 

Of course, one could question the reasons for such a shift. Some say AI continues to be a dark horse and could just steam ahead over the next six months, but others feel that space related investments could witness a shift in gears following India’s move into the big league. The availability of skilled resources is a key defining factor. 

What makes Open Cosmos interesting is that the company raised $7 million for a valuation of about $36 million when they turned operationally profitable in 2020 itself. The numbers suggest lower risk for investors, but it could well be the company’s market opportunity that eventually drove them to put the money where their mouths are. 

The company’s focus on climate and agriculture means that it would put them in direct contact with communications and data connectivity with user groups. Space data is a huge area that covers 50-plus climate variables and satellites play a crucial role in relief efforts during natural and other disasters. 

Small wonder that Open cosmos estimates that rising demand for earth orbit data is a market segment that will be worth $11.3 billion by 2031.