True Ventures leads $87m series-C round for ICEye

Eliza Punshi
24 September 2020

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Finnish space-tech company ICEye has raised $87m in a series-C funding round led by True Ventures, with a significant additional investment byТ OTB Ventures.

The round also included Tesi, Draper Esprit, DNX Ventures, Draper Associates, Seraphim Capital, Promus Ventures and Space Angels, alongside New Space Capital and Luxembourg Future Fund.

ICEye said in a statement that the financing round was significantly larger than originally planned.

The company, which has so far raised $152m, will use the proceeds to continue the growth of its flagship offering – namely synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation – with more spacecraft, run 24/7 customer operations, develop its radar imaging capabilities, and establish spacecraft manufacturing in the US.

According to the company, it has so far successfully launched five satellite missions. It plans to launch four additional SAR satellites this year and eight in 2021.

Previous funding
In 2015, ICEye raised $2.8m in a series-A funding round led by True Ventures, with participation from Lifeline Ventures and Founder.org. In 2017, it raised an additional $13m in an extension of the series-A round led by Draper Nexus, with participation from True Ventures, Lifeline Ventures, Space Angels and Draper Associates.

Two years later, ICEye raised $34m in a series-B round led by True Ventures, with participation from new investors OTB, Tesi, Draper Esprit and Promus Ventures, and existing investors Draper Nexus, Draper Associates, Seraphim Capital and Space Angels.

Company
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Espoo, ICEye is building a satellite-based service to provide access to near-real-time imagery from space.

Its SAR instruments can capture images through clouds, darkness and other obscuring elements, making it more reliable for operational use than optical camera systems. According to its LinkedIn page, it employs around 160 staff.

People
ICEye – Rafal Modrzewski (CEO, co-founder).
OTP Ventures – Adam Niewiński (co-founder, managing partner).