Airbus Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of aerospace manufacturer Airbus, has led a $12.4m series A round for US-based satellite communication systems developer CesiumAstro.
The round included Honeywell Ventures and Analog Devices Ventures, subsidiaries of aerospace technology and appliance producer Honeywell and semiconductor maker Analog Devices.
Franklin Templeton Venture Fund, a vehicle for investment holding company Franklin Templeton, filled out the round along with venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins and Lavrock Ventures.
Founded in 2017, CesiumAstro is developing onboard antennas and communication systems that function as customisable plug-and-play kits, for use in satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, launch vehicles and other aerospace equipment.
The systems are integrated using a single power cable and a digital connection, and are used by government agencies NASA, US Missile Defense Agency and Department of the Navy as well as commercial customers who are building large scale small satellite constellations.
The series A proceeds will fund strategic hires and product development. It comes after CesiumAstro collected $1.7m from three unnamed investors in May 2017, according to a regulatory filing.
Shey Sabripour, CesiumAstro’s founder and chief executive, said: “Secure, reliable and high-throughput software-defined data links are the backbone of next-generation space and airborne systems.
“This series A round – together with the tremendous support of our new partners – accelerates the way we bring state-of-the-art technology to the core of next generation aerospace communications.”