Finance

Sift, a startup providing an “observability platform” for hardware sensor data, has raised $17.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Google Ventures and brings Sift’s total funding to $25 million. The investment will be used to increase its staff, build up its infrastructure and add AI/ML capabilities, said the company. Based in El Segundo, California, Sift ...

The Munich-based satellite launch service company Isar Aerospace has extended its Series C funding round by €65m – it now totals €220m ($230m) – with backing from the NATO Innovation Fund. “Access to space is critical to the technological sovereignty of Europe and the UK,” said Andrea Traversone, Managing Partner of the NATO Innovation Fund. “Space technologies like Isar’s hold ...

Synspective, the Tokyo based SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite data specialist, has raised ¥7 billion ($43.5 million) in a Series C funding round. The company says it will use the new capital to develop, manufacture, launch, and operate the SAR satellites for its constellation. It will also prepare mass production facilities, develop its satellite data systems, and look to expand ...

LeoLabs has been has been selected by AFWERX to develop next-generation radar technology to counter security threats in space. The SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase II contract is worth $1.2 million. AFWERX – part of the U.S. Department of the Air Force (DAF) and working with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) – is described as an innovation programme, ...

The International Space Station (ISS) National Lab announces new funding opportunities to use its orbiting laboratory to develop, or test products and processes. The organisation is offering $750,000 for projects that have “a clear line of sight to commercial applications and demonstrate the potential to produce a positive direct or indirect economic impact” in the near term. The funding is ...

IENAI Space has raised €3.9 million during its latest funding round to develop its electric propulsion technologies. The Madrid-based startup said the latest round of investment brings the total funding of IENAI to €7 million. The investors included the Spanish companies Inveready, WA4STEAM, DPM, GED Conexo Ventures, and CDTI, a Spansih government backed investor that matches private investment. Following the ...

Novocomms, the RF antenna design and manufacturing specialist, has secured £3.6 million of funding from the UK government’s Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) to develop 5G mmWave consumer premises equipment (CPE). To develop “the next generation” of the equipment (routers, network switches, gateways, etc), over the next 13 months, the funding will enable it to recruit up to ten new ...

Black Semiconductor, the four year-old German startup pursuing graphene ICs, has secured €228.7 million from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia over the next 7 years under the EU support structure IPCEI ME/CT. Alongside the public funding, Black Semiconductor has raised  €25.7 million in equity funding. The round was led by ...

The Airbus Zephyr HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station) is at the centre of an attempt to commercialise connectivity and earth observation services using HAPS, both in Japan and across Asia. A consortium of Japanese businesses – led by NTT DOCOMO and Space Compass Corporation Inc – are investing $100m in the Japanese company AALTO HAPS, which builds and operates the ...

The EPSRC UK-RAS Network (Robotics and Autonomous Systems) has announced the launch of its first funding scheme of 2024, with ad-hoc funding available for up to £2k for suitable UK academic projects. The grants are designed “to enable academic engagement and growth in the field of Robotics and Autonomous Systems in line with the specific priorities of the UK-RAS NetworkPlus,” ...