Axelspace, one of Japan’s pioneers in microsatellite technology, announced raising $24 million in a Series C funding round from a slew of local venture investors.
Sparx Innovation participated in the funding round through The Space Frontier Fund while Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment Co joined via its Japan Co-Invest III Limited Partnership.
Japan Post Investment Group, via Japan Post Invest I LP, and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co, through Mitsubishi UFJ Capital VII, and Global Brain Corporation also joined in the funding round.
Axelspace has been developing a next-generation Earth-observation platform named AxelGlobe, which has the capability of obtaining images of the whole planet with high frequency.
With the fresh funding, the company said it will manufacture and launch five more optical microsatellites named GRUS in 2023. The five new microsatellites will make AxelGlobe the Earth-observation platform with a constellation of 10 satellites in total.
GRUS is smaller than conventional Earth observation satellites, yet it can take high-quality optical images with a ground resolution of 2.5 meters, high enough to identify a car on the ground.
“The completion of the 10-satellite constellation will enable us to monitor anywhere on the Earth daily and will create new business opportunities in wider fields than ever before,” the Tokyo-based company founded in 2008 said.
By taking images of the world every day, a vast amount of data will be accumulated. These data can then be provided to Axelspace’s clients to be used based on their needs.
The Series C funding round was raised successfully less than three years after Axelspace secured $27 million in its Series B funding in 2018. It secured raised $15.8 million in its Series A funding in November 2015, participated by ITOCHU Technology Ventures and Weathernews.