HawkEye 360 has been using its eyes in space for years to provide valuable insights on radio frequency (RF) sensing data for the defense sector. Now, as demand signals from the military are on an upswing, the company is taking growth even more seriously.
Yesterday, the space-based RF data and analytics firm announced that it secured a $150M Series E round.
- The Series E amount included equity, as well as debt financing. The company didn’t disclose how much of each.
- Existing investors NightDragon and Center15 Capital led the round, which also included participation from Silicon Valley Bank, Pinegrove Venture Partners, and Hercules Capital.
“We anticipate that the defense sector will grow significantly over the next decade,” Ian Winer, founder of Center15, told Payload via email. “We also think that commercial companies which operate in new domains will gain a larger share of the overall pie.”
But it doesn’t stop there. The funding will also allow HawkEye 360 to acquire Innovative Signal Analysis, a prominent signal analytics company that is expected to greatly expand the space company’s data processing capabilities.
Sixth sense: Since its founding in 2015, HawkEye 360 has been focused on providing the defense sector with valuable RF data—which is key for identifying targets that transmit anything over radio, like planes, boats, drones, vehicles, you name it. Today, it operates three dozen RF-sensing satellites, launched as 12 clusters of three satellites each.
All that data needs a lot of processing, and that’s where ISA comes in. The firm’s expertise in advanced algorithms and engineering, company officials say, is a solid match for HawkEye 360’s RF-data-processing needs.
HawkEye 360 added it is integrating ISA’s business with its own systems, and bolstering its analytics capabilities.
