Allied Minds-backed satellite communication technology developer BridgeSat has closed a $6m series A round.
BridgeSat, a US-based satellite communications network operator backed by commercialisation firm Allied Minds, closed a $6m series A round on Friday that included early-stage investment group Space Angels.
Other investors were not named. The deal valued BridgeSat at $15m pre-investment, an increase over the previous $7m valuation.
Founded in 2015, BridgeSat aims to provide fast, reliable and affordable data transmission technology. The company is working on a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network capable to transferring data at up to 10 Gbps.
The cash will go towards accelerated technology development of core elements – the equipment fixed to customer satellites, ground stations that receive the data and the network, which transmits data to end users through a cloud-based software.
BridgeSat is exploiting research conducted at US federal funded research centre Aerospace Corporation and research organisation Draper Laboratory, spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The company was co-founded by Allied Minds and has also optioned intellectual property from MIT as part of an agreement that named Kerri Cahoy, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the institute, a senior advisor.
Jill Smith, chief executive of Allied Minds, said: “We are excited by the rapid progress BridgeSat has made in advancing the key elements of its optical downlink network; a technology that has the potential to unlock significant benefits for the large and fast growing LEO data downlink market.
“The participation of Space Angels in this funding round is an important validation for the business, and is consistent with our objective to broaden Allied Minds’ funding syndicate and secure investment from strategic and independent financial investors at an earlier stage in our subsidiaries’ development.
“The BridgeSat fundraise follows the successful series A round for HawkEye 360 completed at the end of 2016, and underlines Allied Minds growing expertise in the satellite and data management verticals.”
