Space computing company Ramon.Space closed a $26M strategic financing round, just on the heels of finalizing a key manufacturing partnership with Foxconn subsidiary, Ingrasys, the company announced this morning.
Ingrasys and the UAE Strategic Development Fund provided the bulk of the financing, with some participation from existing investors. Ramon.Space has raised more than $45M so far to support its in-space computing tech business.
CEO Avi Shabtai told Payload that the infrastructure base Ramon.Space provides is key to transforming the next generation of the space economy. “What you need is computing infrastructure for the space economy to grow,” he said.
Ramon 101
Since sending its first payloads to space in 2014, the Israeli-founded company has been supplying commercial customers and space agencies the technology to crunch numbers and process data from space. The company’s space computing payloads pepper the solar system, from LEO and GEO to interplanetary deep space missions.
Ramon.Space’s computing infrastructure essentially makes your average bird into a “smart” satellite, granting it the “autonomy of performing tasks in orbit without the need to rely on the connectivity to Earth,” Shabtai said. This helps satellite operators maximize the output of their assets on orbit.
Ramon.Space’s existing customers fall into three main market segments, he said:
- Communication
- Earth observation
- Data centers
With this round…
Ramon.Space is deepening its relationship with Ingrasys, an important server and storage platform manufacturer under Foxconn, the world’s largest tech manufacturer, known for its greatest hits including the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Google Pixel devices.
- “If you would ask me, I think for Foxconn to move into the space industry is probably one of the biggest [events] of the space market in 2023,” Shabtai said. “It would have a huge impact on the space market. Huge.”
The UAE Strategic Development Fund’s investment, Shabtai said, points to the company’s potential to deeply influence the coming generation of space technology.
What’s next?
With the closing of this strategic financing round, Ramon.Space is expanding its global operations, investing heavily in operations and R&D, and pushing its product offering into more regions and market segments.
