Spire, the US-based nanosatellite producer backed by internet company Qihoo 360 and conglomerate Mitsui, attracted an undisclosed sum yesterday from state-owned investment vehicle Luxembourg Future Fund (LFF).
The funding was provided as part of a $70m series C round set to close later this month. The other investors in the series C round have not yet been revealed.
Founded in 2012 as Nanosatisfi, Spire operates a network of nanosatellites aimed at the maritime, aviation and meteorology sectors. The technology enables clients, for example, to track ships in remote locations where locating vessels has historically been difficult.
Spire also offers custom applications for areas such as signals intelligence. It builds two new devices per week on average and has launches scheduled for up to 18 months in advance at any given time.
The series C funds will drive recruitment as the company opens its European headquarters in Luxembourg.
Spire had previously raised just over $80m in funding, havimg secured $25m in a 2014 series A round led by venture capital firm RRE Ventures that included Qihoo 360, Mitsui subsidiary Mitsui Global Investment and Moose Capital.
The company added $40m in a 2015 series B round led by Promus Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Jump Capital, RRE Ventures and Lemnos Labs. Its other investors include Beamonte Investments, Emerge, Shasta Ventures and Grishin Robotics.
LFF is a €150m ($177m) vehicle set up by Luxembourg government-owned economic development bank Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement and the European Union-owned SME financing instrument European Investment Fund.
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global Government Venturing. Image courtesy of Spire.