HawkEye 360, a US-based geospatial data analytics company based on research at Virginia Tech, has closed a $14.9m series A-3 round with backing from commercialisation firm Allied Minds after securing a $5.3m extension on Monday. The extension was led by defence company Raytheon and was backed by Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, part of conglomerate Sumitomo, Razor’s Edge Ventures, Shield Capital and Space Angels. HawkEye 360 had initially raised $9.6m in series A-3 funding from Allied Minds, Razor’s Edge Ventures, Shield Capital and an undisclosed aerospace and defence firm in August 2018. Founded in 2015, HawkEye 360 is developing small low Earth orbit satellites that collect geospatial data, perform analytics and generate reports on radio frequency (RF) signals. The technology has applications in areas such as search and rescue missions, logistics tracking, detection of human trafficking and identifying spectrum interference. HawkEye 360 expects to launch a pilot satellite cluster later this year and will use the funds to finish development of its first commercial setup for 2019. The company previously raised $11m in a 2016 series A round led by Razor’s Edge that featured Allied Minds and an unnamed defence industry entity. It has not revealed details about a series A-2 round. Kenichi Hyuga, senior vice-president and general manager of the construction and transportation systems group at Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, said: “We are very excited to work with HawkEye 360, as they establish this new class of RF termed geoanalytics using data gathered from their small flying satellites. “HawkEye 360’s service is backed by their innovative technology and we see this investment as a way to contribute to their expansion plans to provide value-added service to customers of not only aerospace industries.”

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