UK's Open Cosmos raises $50M to expand its climate change monitoring satellites solutions

UK-based satellite company Open Cosmos has raised $50 million in Series B funding from ETF Partners, Trill Impact, A&G, Accenture Ventures, Banco Santander InnoEnergy Climate Tech Fund and Claret Capital Partners, with participation from Taavet Hinrikus and Kheng Nam Lee. 

OpenCosmos was founded in 2015 and became profitable in 2020. Previous to this round the firm had only raised $7 million in external funding.

The fresh capital will allow Open Cosmos to accelerate its growth internationally, expanding its suite of satellites and data analysis providing vital information to monitor the impacts of climate change and humanitarian disasters. The firm designs, builds, launches and operates advanced satellites, provides access to shared data and offers AI-powered data.

The use of Earth Observation (EO) devices is essential to the fight on climate change. 60 percent of the 54 essential climate variables can be addressed by satellite data, with 21 requiring long time series and global coverage which can only be provided by satellites – and it’s why the EO satellite market is estimated to be worth $11.3 billion by 2031.

"Since launch, we’ve viewed Open Cosmos as more than a space tech company; we are agents of change, harnessing the power of satellite data to drive meaningful impact on Earth. Our successful Series B funding, with the support of such prominent ESG and impact investors, is a testament to our commitment to sustainability and innovation. It is important for us as a business to work with investors that believe in our mission and align with our values to use technology to solve urgent global problems and we’re delighted to find that with ETF Partners, Trill Impact and A&G. This investment will propel us forward, allowing us to accelerate our growth, expand our capabilities, and continue offering cutting-edge solutions," says Rafel Jorda Siquier, CEO and founder at Open Cosmos. 

“Space data has always been an important means of understanding planet Earth, but in our view, it is only with its increasing affordability, the amplifying effects of climate change and the rapidly growing number of AI/ML solutions that extract insights from this data that the market is now ready to reach its full potential. Open Cosmos is a leader in providing multi-sensor space data at an affordable cost and we consider it a pioneer with creating an appstore-like analytics offering,” says Toba Spiegel, Investment Manager at Trill Impact. 

Main image: Open Cosmos