Insider Brief
- LeoLabs raises $29M to enhance space safety services and expand its global radar network.
- The funding will boost AI-driven insights for space operations and traffic coordination.
- New and existing investors back LeoLabs’ mission to improve satellite tracking and safety.
PRESS RELEASE — MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — LeoLabs, the company with the largest and most comprehensive commercial catalog of objects in low Earth orbit, today announced it raised an additional $29M in financing. This latest funding enables LeoLabs to scale up its insight delivery by further investing in advanced end-user applications and partner integrations.
LeoLabs has transformed space operations with its global, proliferated radar network, low latency, and the world’s largest commercial orbital catalog — increasing the visibility of more than 20,000 objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). Using artificial intelligence (AI), the company processes the millions of measurements it collects into critical insights for both commercial and government operators to ensure space safety, security, and sustainability.
“With the unprecedented growth of satellites in low Earth orbit, enhanced safety and security solutions are critical. We’ve built a responsive layer of artificial intelligence algorithms that turn the real-time data collected by our all weather, 24/7 sensor network into continuous and reliable insights for space operators.” said Dan Ceperley, CEO and Cofounder of LeoLabs. “This investment, led by GP Bullhound, enables us to accelerate this effort by bolstering our data architecture and system software. We’re eager to continue serving the space sector as a key operational partner and enable its growth in an emerging era of tens of thousands of satellites.”
LeoLabs analytics are enabling the industry to leverage automation to keep pace with the scale of growth in LEO. For government operators, it aims to further integrate its space domain expertise and real-time insights on anomalous space activities into defense command operations. For commercial operators, the company will continue to deliver the most reliable and refined orbital data and safety alerts available to inform mission planning and operations. In addition, LeoLabs will scale its safety capabilities to build the foundational layer of the next generation of space traffic coordination currently in development by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“Space is becoming one of the key growth areas of this decade and beyond,” said Per Roman, Managing Partner at GP Bullhound. “LeoLabs is already the category leader at tracking this data in its extreme complexity — a position we find unique and attractive. We are also deeply concerned that if humanity’s space expansion is not monitored and managed in a fair and equitable way, we may end up with environmental challenges in space that can harm life on our planet and therefore see LeoLabs as another key investment in our ESG theme alongside Ecovadis.”
New investors include GP Bullhound, 1941, and Dolby Family Ventures. This extension was also backed by strong support from existing investors, including Insight Partners, Velvet Sea Ventures, Space Capital, MDSV Capital, and the AngelList Syndicate led by Dylan Taylor.
LeoLabs had an oversubscribed funding round thanks to its recent global market growth. This includes winning several key engagements with commercial operators and allied governments across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. The company looks forward to announcing additional wins in Space Domain Awareness in the coming months. LeoLabs is on a mission to keep space safe and secure and is rapidly expanding its global operations and capabilities to meet growing demand.
About LeoLabs (www.leolabs.space): LeoLabs is the leader in space safety, security, and sustainability. LeoLabs is transforming the way satellite operators, commercial enterprises and federal agencies across the world launch and track missions in low Earth orbit. Through its vertically integrated technology system, Vertex™, LeoLabs delivers the information needed to succeed in today’s space race. With unmatched LEO coverage, real-time tracking and powerful insights, companies and governments rely on LeoLabs to safely innovate and execute a wide array of operations in space.
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