Skynopy raises €15M for real-time, high-speed satellite ground network

Paris-based Skynopy, a startup providing ground station services for low Earth orbit satellites, has completed a new €15 million funding round less than 18 months after its creation. This investment supports the startup’s ambition to deploy a global network of high-throughput ground stations, enabling real-time satellite data downlink services, particularly for Earth observation constellations.

Founded at the end of 2023, Skynopy offers turnkey, high-speed ground station services (antennas) for satellites that are rapidly deployable and require no heavy upfront investment.

In less than a year, it has added more than 15 antennas to its network, combining third-party ground station integrations and strategic partnerships (AWS, Kinéis) with deployments of its own antennas.

Thanks to its hybrid economic model, combining shared existing infrastructure with proprietary assets, coupled with software orchestration and virtualised modem technologies, Skynopy delivers a service that reduces revisit time to under 20 minutes and doubles the data download volume per satellite pass.

This unique modular approach allows satellite operators with high data download needs (hyperspectral imagery, video, SAR) to double their image download volume without additional costs.

For operators generating smaller data volumes, the startup can halve their data download costs.

An operational test using Skynopy’s ground station network was successfully conducted by Airbus and Skynopy to download data from the Pléiades Neo satellites. The setup of the test was completed in less than two weeks.

Pierre Bertrand, co-founder and CEO of Skynopy, shared:

This fundraising marks a turning point. In less than 18 months, we have demonstrated that an agile, interoperable, and CAPEX-free model can compete with industry giants. Thanks to our investors' confidence, we will now deploy a large-scale network capable of meeting the growing needs of satellite operators, ensuring both performance and ease of use.

The round was led by Alven, alongside Expansion, Omnes, and CNES via the SpaceFounders program. Heartcore, a pan-European fund already invested in Skynopy, also participated.

François Meteyer, Partner at Alven, said:

By integrating the best existing infrastructure and focusing on practical, user-oriented value, Skynopy has built—in just a few short months—a service that is already being adopted by strategic clients. We were particularly impressed by the team’s deep technical expertise, sharp commercial understanding of the market, and above all, their remarkable speed of execution. We are confident they have what it takes to become the next global leader in the satellite ground segment.

This funding will allow Skynopy to accelerate its commercial deployment, strengthen its technical and marketing teams, and secure the resources to deploy its AKAR project, a unified, high-speed, real-time space network, planned for 2028.