Ibadan, 13 March 2024. – Simera Sense, a provider of end-to-end optical solutions for the small satellite Earth observation industry, has raised €13.5 million in its first growth investment round. The company, which offers a diverse array of ‘off-the-shelf’ high-resolution cameras ready for use by clients across the global small satellite industry, supplies solutions to global customers in the Earth observation data and service market.
Simera Sense will consequently use the investment from NewSpace Capital and Knife Capital to respond to rising client demand and expand its current production capacity, planning for additional production sites in Europe. In addition to strengthening its production and customer support capacity in Europe, the new funding will enable the optical solutions provider to expand its product development teams. As a result, this will fast-track the development of higher-resolution and SWIR camera products.
Another key area of development for Simera Sense is the inclusion of industry-transforming onboard data processing embedded in the camera control electronics. Already under development, it aims to be a market first, as data from satellite cameras is typically processed on the ground, stretching bandwidth and creating communication issues.
Speaking on the successful funding round, Johann Du Toit, CEO of Simera Sense, said, “We’re very happy with the amount and grateful to NewSpace Capital and Knife Capital for choosing to back us. We’ll be looking immediately to increase our production capacity so we can meet client demand and bring the delivery time down further while taking the development of our onboard data processing solutions to the next stage.”
The CEO also added, “Satellite imagery has a central role to play in helping us solve problems here on Earth, and the dynamism and growth of the Earth observation and wider space market reflect that.”
