Monitoring water stress levels from space, constellr raises $10 million

Freiburg-based Fraunhofer Institute spin-off constellr has raised $10 million in one of the largest Seed funding rounds in the space sector seen to date. The startup offers precise and plot-level water stress monitoring for the agricultural sector, thereby aiding in securing the global food supply. 

The investment will be used to help constellr comprehensively map the world’s crops by means of developing its first two satellites, wrap up its existing pilot programs, and flesh out its processing platform. 

The seed round was co-led by Lakestar and VSquared, who are both also backers of space infrastructure startup Isar Aerospace, with participation from FTTF, IQT, Amathaon Capital, Natural Ventures, EIT Food, OHB Venture Capital, Next Humanity, and Seraphim.

Joining the board at constellr, Lakestar’s Steven Jacobs commented, “Climate change is the fundamental challenge our generation is facing and, in our efforts to combat its effects, we must ensure the global food and water systems are more resilient. Never has there been a greater need for scalable monitoring solutions like that offered by constellr. We’re thrilled to join their journey in building cloud-based space infrastructure that will enable European leadership to effectively monitor agriculture.”

Over the last six months alone constellr has doubled the size of its team, now hovering at 40+ with backgrounds ranging from aerospace engineering, insurance, clean tech, finance, and data science. Combined, the team has contributed to over 20 space missions, including several constellations.

“The team has worked relentlessly on all fronts, removing obstacle after obstacle, getting a first camera in space and pilot customers onboard. And now, we are incredibly proud to partner with what will become our mission control: Lakestar, VSquared, FTTF and IQT for deep tech, Amathaon Capital, Natural Ventures, EIT Food and Next Humanity for agriculture, and Seraphim, OHB Venture Capital and Spacebel for space,” commented constellr co-founder and CEO Max Gulde. “Together, we just ignited the second stage towards a global water monitoring system.”