SatVu, a London-based thermal imaging company, announced a £10M ($12.7M) fundraising round on Thursday.
Adara Ventures Energy Fund and existing investor Molten Ventures led the round, with further support from NOA, Lockheed Martin, Seraphim, Ridgeline, and Stellar Ventures.
The fundraise was bolstered by a £10M ($12.7M) insurance payout. While SatVu didn’t name a specific source for the insurance proceeds, it’s likely from the failure of its first satellite at the end of 2023, HotSat-1, which was insured at the time.
Second chance: During its six months in operation, HotSat-1’s high-resolution mid-wave infrared sensor was able to capture some of the highest resolution thermal images available—as low as 3.5m.
HotSat-1 allowed researchers to visualize heat distribution on the ground to study and monitor industrial activity and climatological events more precisely than NASA and ESA thermal imagers.
SatVu will use the combined funds to support the development and launch of HotSat-2 and HotSat-3, which are expected to be ready to ship for launch in 2025. The eventual goal is to build a nine-satellite constellation, which will be able to revisit sites 10-20 times per day and provide near-real-time thermal data.
Net-zero: The technology has widespread applications, but will ultimately be used to help the world meet its climate and energy transition goals. Thermal sensors aboard the HotSat birds will be able to work day and night to track everything from the spread of wildfires to the movement of logistics—and will be capable enough to view the heat signatures of entire cities to identify where heat escapes from buildings.
