SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
Satellite data aggregator and solution provider SkyWatch today announced it had closed a Series A round of funding raising $10 million (US$7.5M). The company also unveiled its latest product offering, TerraStream.
The Waterloo based startup has spent the last two years since it raised $4 million in its seed round developing and marketing its EarthCache platform.
The EarthCache platform aggregates Earth observation data from multiple sources and makes the data available to a variety of companies and developers. In an email to SpaceQ, SkyWatch said the EarthCache service will soon surpass “100 customers building applications across more than a dozen unique industries.”
SkyWatch told SpaceQ that the newly raised funds will be used to double the current staff of 20 employees, likely by the end of 2020.
Leading the investment round was Bullpen Capital. Other new investors included BDC Industrial, Clean, and Energy Technology Venture Fund. Existing investors who also participated in the Series A include Space Capital, Golden Ventures, Techstars Ventures, SK Ventures, and Angel Round Capital. The funding round closed before the holidays.
SkyWatch’s new TerraStream service is targeting companies launching new Earth observation satellites by offering them “an integrated data storage, cataloging, ordering, processing, and delivery solution.” SkyWatch says the new service will allow satellite data providers “to serve customers faster, with less operational and financial risk.”
The company expects the financing will allow them to accelerate growth and is looking to surpass 1,000 customers over the next year. Part of the strategy includes growing its TerraStream global partnership base to support “more than a dozen partners who will use TerraStream in the coming years to distribute their satellite data to the world.”
James Slifierz, CEO of SkyWatch, told SpaceQ in an email that he expects “this funding will support the growth of our annual revenue into the 8 figures.”
SkyWatch first garnered attention in 2014 when it won the Waterloo SpaceApps Challenge and then when on to win the global NASA SpaceApps Challenge, beating out over 650 teams in the Best Use of Data challenge.
The company now leads the organization of the annual Waterloo SpaceApps Challenge encouraging other startups to develop their ideas into products.
