LeoLabs: $29 MIllion Raised For Delivering AI-Based Insights For Space Operations

By Amit Chowdhry • Updated April 25, 2024

LeoLabs – the company with the largest and most comprehensive commercial catalog of objects in low Earth orbit – announced it raised an additional $29 million in financing. This latest funding round enables LeoLabs to scale up its insight delivery by further investing in advanced end-user applications and partner integrations.

LeoLabs transformed space operations with its global, proliferated radar network, low latency, and the world’s most extensive commercial orbital catalog, which increased the visibility of more than 20,000 objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). And using artificial intelligence (AI), the company processes the millions of measurements it collects into critical insights for both commercial and government operators to ensure space safety, security, and sustainability.

LeoLabs analytics enable the industry to utilize automation to keep pace with the scale of growth in LEO. And for government operators, it aims to integrate further its space domain expertise and real-time insights on anomalous space activities into defense command operations. The company will continue delivering the most reliable and refined orbital data and safety alerts for commercial operators to inform mission planning and operations. Plus, LeoLabs will scale its safety capabilities to build the foundational layer of the next generation of space traffic coordination currently being developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The new investors include GP Bullhound, 1941, and Dolby Family Ventures. And this extension was also backed by strong support from existing investors, including Insight Partners, Velvet Sea Ventures, Space Capital, MDSV Capital, and the AngelList Syndicate led by Dylan Taylor.

LeoLabs had an oversubscribed funding round due to its recent global market growth. And this includes winning several key engagements with commercial operators and allied governments across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. The company looks forward to announcing more wins in Space Domain Awareness in the coming months. LeoLabs is on a mission to keep space safe and secure and is rapidly expanding its global operations and capabilities to meet growing demand.

KEY QUOTES:

“With the unprecedented growth of satellites in low Earth orbit, enhanced safety and security solutions are critical. We’ve built a responsive layer of artificial intelligence algorithms that turn the real-time data collected by our all weather, 24/7 sensor network into continuous and reliable insights for space operators. This investment, led by GP Bullhound, enables us to accelerate this effort by bolstering our data architecture and system software. We’re eager to continue serving the space sector as a key operational partner and enable its growth in an emerging era of tens of thousands of satellites.”

  • Dan Ceperley, CEO and Cofounder of LeoLabs

“Space is becoming one of the key growth areas of this decade and beyond. LeoLabs is already the category leader at tracking this data in its extreme complexity — a position we find unique and attractive. We are also deeply concerned that if humanity’s space expansion is not monitored and managed in a fair and equitable way, we may end up with environmental challenges in space that can harm life on our planet and therefore see LeoLabs as another key investment in our ESG theme alongside Ecovadis.”

  • Per Roman, Managing Partner at GP Bullhound