Finnish Earth observation data provider ICEYE announced 17 April that it had closed a $93 million (Є87.3 million) growth funding round. The funding will be utilized to accelerate the growth of its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation and expand its product offering.
The company’s growth funding round was led by Finnish sovereign wealth fund Solidium Oy with participation from Move Capital Fund I, Blackwells Capital, Christo Georgiev, and existing investors. The company has now raised $438 million in funding since its founding in 2014.
With its growth secured and over $100 million in revenue generated in 2023, ICEYE co-founder and CEO Rafal Modrzewski was not short on hyperbole with the announcement of the company’s $93 million in new funding.
“This backing from the domestic and international investment community shows trust in ICEYE’s vision to improve life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation.”
While Modrzewsk shared visions of the company becoming a “source of truth,” ICEYE CFO Susan Repo gave a slightly more measured response to the news.
“ICEYE has experienced exponential commercial traction over the past few years internationally,” explained Repo. “This growth investment round fully funds the business plan and sets the company up for a near-term trajectory towards free cash flow breakeven.”
The ICEYE SAR Constellation
ICEYE launched the first satellite of its SAR constellation on 12 January 2018 aboard an ISRO PSLV-XL rocket. In addition to being the world’s first satellite under 100 kilograms to carry a synthetic aperture radar, it was also the first commercial satellite launched by a Finish company.
The most recent deployment of ICEYE SAR satellites occurred in March 2024, when a trio of satellites was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission. With this most recent launch, the company has deployed 34 spacecraft into orbit around Earth, making it the world’s largest constellation of SAR satellites.
To ensure the reliability of its near-real-time monitoring services while also being able to expand its offering, ICEYE expects to add an additional 15 satellites to its constellation in 2024 alone.
