Open Cosmos raised $7 million in a series A funding led by BGF Ventures

Open Cosmos, an Oxford (Harwell), UK-based space satellite company, announced that it completed a funding round of  $7 million.

The money, which is a series A capital round, was led from investors led by BGF Ventures, with participation from LocalGlobe, Entrepreneur First, and angel investors Taavet Hinrikus and Charlie Songhurst.

Proceeds will be used to hire additional staff, increase manufacturing production to 30 satellites a year and to increase its marketing activity.

Open Cosmos, incubated at Entrepreneur First in 2015 by Rafael Jordà Siquier, manufactures satellites, which range from 4kg to 30kg, and easily integrate almost any sensor. Space agencies, corporates, and entrepreneurs can use Open Cosmos satellites to demonstrate new technologies, carry out research, or provide services to their own customers.

The satellites can be used to collect images of vessels and track transportation of commodities, pirates, or illegal fishing, gather images of natural resources to optimize agritech production, efficient use of water, sustainable mining, deforestation control, spillages and contamination, and provide telecommunications to networks of connected devices.

Once satellites are in orbit, Open Cosmos takes full control of them. Data collected by the satellite will be sent to the customer.
The company, which launched its first satellite for the European Commission QB50 program in 2017, now employs 22 people from countries around the world including the US, China, Spain, India, Germany, and France.