WASHINGTON — Iceye has added $65 million to a funding round it announced in April, bringing the total amount the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imaging company has raised to more than $500 million.
The company announced Dec. 18 an extension to a Series E round the company announced in April that raised $93 million. Solidium Oy, the Finnish sovereign wealth fund that led the April round, participated in this extension, along with BlackRock, Seraphim, Plio Limited and Christo Georgiev, a fintech entrepreneur. With the extension, the company has raised $503 million to date.
The new funding, a mix of debt and equity, will support continued expansion of Iceye’s constellation of SAR satellites as well as its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform and related systems.
“This extension of our growth funding round further bolsters Iceye’s investment in its capabilities and enables us to respond even better to the growing demand for space-based technology in the global defense and ISR markets,” Susan Repo, chief financial officer of Iceye, said in a statement.
The Helsinki-based company builds and operates a constellation of SAR satellites, providing imagery at resolutions as sharp as 25 centimeters for a variety of civil and defense applications. The company also sells dedicated satellites for customers, primarily governments.
Iceye announced Dec. 9 a partnership with Space42, the Emirati company formed by the merger of satellite operator Yahsat and geospatial company Bayanat, to produce SAR satellites in the United Arab Emirates. The satellites built there will be for customers in the region such as the UAE’s own planned SAR constellation.
The funding announcement came just before the launch of two new Iceye satellites on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-2 rideshare mission Dec. 21. The two satellites will operate in mid-inclination orbits, providing improved revisit times for mid-latitude regions.
“We bolster our industry-leading SAR constellation and expand our customers’ collection opportunities in the areas most important to them,” Rafal Modrzewski, chief executive of Iceye, said of the new mid-inclination satellites after the launch.
With the Bandwagon-2 mission, Iceye has launched nine SAR satellites in 2024. The company earlier projected launching as many as 15 during the year.
