Astrocast goes public and attracts Palantir as investor

Current cellular networks cover roughly only 10% of the Earth’s surface, and low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN) cover only a fraction of this. More than 5 billion IoT devices are expected by 2025, and a rapidly growing part of these needs to be connected by satellite. Through its Nanosatellite IoT Network, Astrocast enables companies to track, measure, manage, communicate and control IoT assets from the world’s most remote regions. To meet the growing demand for such services, Astrocast is planning a substantial increase in capacity.

100 satellites by the end of 2024
Prior to the listing on Euronext Growth Oslo, Astrocast offered new shares to investors and raised CHF 45 million in capital. Several leading investors well acquainted with NewSpace – a term frequently used for the globally emerging, private spaceflight industry – acquired new shares in Astrocast. The cornerstone investors are a syndicate led by US-based Adit Ventures. Other leading investors in the placement included Palantir, the leading builder of operating systems for the modern enterprise, the Swiss-based private equity firm DAA Capital Partners (DAA) which specialises in early-growth technology companies, and the seed and early-stage venture capital fund Primo Space Fund which focuses on space tech opportunities.

Among the existing owners of Astrocast are Airbus Ventures, Verve and DAA, and several Swiss family offices. None of these offered shares for sale in connection with the fundraise. “The fundraise and listing represent major steps for the company as we are now accelerating the deployment of our constellation. After a successful launch of 5 new satellites in late June this year, the company’s current network comprises 10 operating satellites in orbit. We plan to increase this to a total of 100 satellites by the end of 2024”, said CEO Fabien Jordan.

(Press release / SK)