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Kuva Space , a hyperspectral imagery startup found in Finland , has closed a € 16.6 million ( $ 17.6 million ) Series A funding one shot as it look to deploy up to 100 satellite by the end of the decade .
The inauguration , formerly call Reaktor Space Lab , was founded in 2016 and spent its first four years focalize on building nanosatellites for firms such as the European Space Agency . It has successfully launched three satellite to date , admit a CubeSat that incorporate a small hyperspectral camera demonstration . It was only around 2020 that the society decided to pursue a hyperspectral constellation , with Kuva closing a € 4.2 million ( $ 4.85 million ) seeded player round of golf in October 2021 to get lead off .
“ Building nanosatellites for other people , it ’s not the nicest patronage in the world , ” Kuva Space CEO Jarkko Antila said in a late consultation . “ We ’ve been always looking at these different opportunity to go into digital services business , through perhaps telecommunication or also hyperspectral . ”
Hyperspectral imagery can read the “ ghostly theme song ” of materials on Earth , which means it can be used to identify crops , mineral , and even gas . There ’s been requirement for this character of information from verticals ranging from agriculture to oil and accelerator pedal to defending team .
Kuva says that its constellation ’s earth pixel size will be the smallest among its challenger because it uses a 2D - tomography system that layers together fancy from different band using software . ( It aspire to launch two commercial-grade microsatellites next year . ) The company can also select which of the bands it want its satellites to measure , a decisive way of life to get better results for client , Antila say .
“ Instead of measure out 250 bands , you’re able to have 25 , and you’re able to take 10 clock time more pictures from the exact same topographic point , ” he explain . “ With this you’re able to increase the signal to noise proportion , which is the critical technological parameter in hyperspectral whether your data constitute sense or not . ”
Kuva plan to offer perceptiveness to client via a subscription , with readily available information that does not demand a customer tasking a orbiter in advance . The inauguration ’s aim is to reach a more than weekly revisit rate with a constellation of six satellites launched over the next two geezerhood . The company plans to descale to in effect than day-to-day revisit for many parts of the earth by 2026 , and want to scale to 100 satellites in area by 2030 .
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“ We want to impart a reliable SaaS example to the Earth observation business organisation , ” he read .
The startup , which has bagged declaration with the European Commission and pull ahead the NATO Innovation Challenge , point to establish a U.S. entity to open up opportunity to work with the U.S. Department of Defense and other American organizations . Some of those organizations , like the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office , haveshown an appetitefor such data . The caller currently has 20 employee but plans on triple its team in the coming months .
The round was led by existing investor Voima Ventures and Nordic Foodtech VC , with participation from Singapore fund Earth VC . The round of drinks also included chapiter from Finnish secret investor via a Finland growth fund called Springvest and non - equity funding from Business Finland .
