Simera Sense secures €13.5M for satellite earth observation solutions

Simera Sense, a provider of end-to-end optical solutions for the small satellite Earth observation industry, raised €13.5 million in its first growth investment round this week. The company, launched in South Africa and headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, offers a diverse array of 'off-the-shelf' high-resolution cameras ready for use by clients across the global small satellite industry.

The company collaborates with various European institutions and participates in partnership with other companies in response to 'New Space' prospects. In 2020, in partnership with Open Cosmos, it was selected to be part of the Phi-Sat-2 mission, supported by ESA, providing solutions for an AI-enabled Earth Observation Cubesat.

Its also developing industry - transforming on-board data processing embedded in the camera control electronics. Already under development, it will be a market first, as data from satellite cameras is typically processed on the ground, stretching bandwidth and creating communication issues.

The investment comes from Belgian spacetech investment firm NewSpace Capital and Knife Capital.

Johann Du Toit, CEO at Simera Sense, shared:

"We're happy with the amount raised and grateful to NewSpace Capital and Knife Capital for choosing to back us. 

We'll immediately increase our production capacity to meet client demand and reduce delivery time while developing our onboard data processing solutions to the next stage.'

Bogdan Gogulan, Managing Partner of NewSpace Capital, said:

'We spent a long time looking at the market for a company with not just the ambition but the expertise to revolutionise Earth observation, and Simera Sense stood out from the crowd.We've been following the company for several years.

The team has a very rare combination of technical excellence, business acumen, resilience and humility that attracts customers and partners. We believe this team will achieve a lot, including mastering on-board data processing, which would be transformational for the market.

There are also interesting synergies with other companies in our portfolio."

Keet van Zyl, Co-Founder and Partner at Knife Capital, added:

"We are delighted to back the unique combination of a deep technology product suite, a market demand for Simera Sense products and an entrepreneurial team that has a track record of proven execution capabilities in this space.'

It has already been a fulfilling journey, even during due diligence and closing out the transaction with credible investment partners. Knife Capital is proud to be part of transforming the optical payload solutions industry.'

Simera Sense will use the investment to expand its current production capacity. Additional production sites are planned in Europe. The new funding will also enable Simera to expand its product development teams. This will fast-track the development of higher-resolution and SWIR camera products.

Lead image. Simera Sense. Photo: uncredited.