Space data companies have argued for years that the private sector needs their products, but the real uptake has been by government buyers. Now, with artificial intelligence top of mind for business, a Spanish startup is trying to become the go-to source of truth for business.
Xoople (pronounced “zoople”) is developing a satellite constellation to collect accurate data targeting deep learning models. Founded in 2019, the startup has spent the past seven years developing its technology stack around data collected from government spacecraft and integrating with cloud providers.
CEO and co-founder Fabrizio Pirondini told TechCrunch that the company closed a $130 million Series B round led by Nazca Capital. Other investors include MCH Private Equity, CDTI, a technology development fund backed by the Spanish government, Buenavista Equity Partners and Endeavor Catalyst.
The startup also announced Monday a deal with U.S. space and defense company L3Harris Technologies to begin building sensors for Xoople’s spacecraft, which are designed to collect “a stream of data that will be two orders of magnitude better than existing tracking systems,” Pirondini told TechCrunch.
L3Harris has built some of the most advanced commercial on-orbit imaging systems. However, Pirondini would not share details about the satellites, or even how many the company wants to build, other than that the sensors will collect optical data. These systems don’t come cheap, and the company continues to raise capital to fund its full development.
Pirondi declined to share his company’s valuation after the current fundraising round, other than to note that “we’re in unicorn territory.” The company has raised $225 million in total.
The company’s focus on data quality is a key differentiator. Still, Xoople enters a crowded space with several mature competitors, including Vantor, Planet, BlackSky and Airbus in Europe, which already operate satellites in orbit and are developing AI-focused datasets.
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The twist for Xoople is its focus on enterprise platforms.
“Our business model is about integrating our data and solutions directly into their ecosystem so they can provide those services directly to their customers,” Pirondelli said.
Pirondelli described use cases such as government agencies monitoring transportation networks and damage from natural disasters, agribusinesses monitoring crop health, or large companies monitoring infrastructure projects or supply chains.
Aravind Ravichandran, CEO of geospatial consultancy TerraWatch Spacetold TechCrunch that Xoople’s decision to prepare its distribution strategy before acquiring its own data is interesting. Currently, it relies on publicly available data, such as that collected by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 spacecraft.
“They laid the distribution pipes before they had their own data provision — integrating with Microsoft and Esri, the two platforms where enterprise, government and most GIS buyers already live, but neither has proprietary EO data,” Ravichandran said. “Google’s foray into AI geospatial models is the benchmark by which they will be measured.”
It’s unclear what balance Xoople will strike between providing raw data and developing its own analysis tools, but Pirondi hopes to create “Earth’s System of Record,” a project he expects will eventually involve developing a real-world AI model with partners.
