HawkEye 360, a US-based data gathering satellite operator backed by aerospace manufacturer Airbus and mapping software developer Esri, added $15m from family investment office Advance on Friday to bring its series B round to $85m.
The commitment follows the first $70m series B tranche in August 2019, which featured Airbus and Esri, as well as commercialisation firm Allied Minds, Razor’s Edge Ventures, Shield Capital Partners and unnamed additional investors.
Advance is now the spinout’s biggest shareholder after paying $65.6m for Allied Minds’ 58% stake, in a secondary deal first announced in September 2019.
Founded in 2015 by Allied Minds to commercialise Virginia Tech research, HawkEye 360 is in the midst of launching an 18-strong cluster of low-earth orbit (Leo) satellites that collect and analyse data leveraging radio frequency (RF) signals and geospatial technology.
The spinout has also developed an RF signal mapping product, RF Geo, which can track logistics routes and geolocate radio signals and emergency distress beacons.
The first three satellites in HawkEye’s constellation launched in 2018 and the series B cash will fund the development of four further clusters, with the second grouping due to launch in early 2020.
Advance will occupy Allied Minds’ position on the HawkEye board of directors following the transaction.
The series B round follows a $14.9m series A-3 closed in 2018 with $5.3m in additional funding led by defence systems producer Raytheon with contributions from Sumitomo Corporation of Americas – part of diversified conglomerate Sumitomo – and Allied Minds, as well as Space Angels, Razor’s Edge and Shield Capital.
Allied Minds also took part in the round’s $9.6m initial tranche the month before with Razor’s Edge, Shield Capital and an unnamed aerospace and defence firm, after Razor’s Edge had led an $11m series A in 2016 that included Allied Minds and an unnamed defence industry investor that may have been Raytheon.
John Serafini, chief executive of HawkEye 360, said: “This shift from Allied Minds to Advance reaffirms our heritage as an American owned, operated and headquartered corporation, which we know to be essential for leadership in the emerging RF sensing market.
“Allied Minds was a critical, early institutional investor for HawkEye 360 and we are proud to have delivered an excellent return to them.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.