I2BF Global Ventures, an international technology focused venture capital firm, has made a $20 million investment in Dauria Aerospace, a global satellite services company involved in the manufacturing of micro and nano satellites and the development of machine-to-machine wireless communication and earth observation technologies.
Dauria Aerospace was founded in 2011 by experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts with backgrounds from NASA, RapidEye and the Russian space program, with the aim of developing low-cost infrastructure for rapid monitoring of ground assets and activity. The firm integrates low-cost satellite constellations with a cloud-based platform called CloudEO that provides an advanced framework and easy access to GEO-application developers. The production start of the first satellite is due this year with support from Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency. The company is planning to deploy constellations of various earth observation and communications satellites to provide frequent vegetation monitoring for precision farming, traffic management, dynamic urban management, and polar broadband services.
I2BF Global Ventures’ $20 million investment will be used for working capital to serve existing contracts, technology development, and new satellite platforms.
“I2BF sees a rising opportunity for scarce resources management and discovery through innovative space applications. Our investment in Dauria Aerospace reinforces our intention to grow our exposure to this exciting new frontier,” says Ilya Golubovich, founding partner of I2BF Global Ventures. “The aerospace sector is ripe for brilliant entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists to build off the foundation that national programs have put in place. With facilities in California’s NASA Ames Research Park, DLR incubator in Munich, Germany, and in Innograd Skolkovo Moscow, Russia, Dauria represents the next generation of global aerospace startups, collaborating and working across borders with applications that can directly benefit areas such as agriculture, disaster prevention, water control and resource management.”
In 2012, the global satellite industry saw $190 billion in revenue, broken down by satellite services, launch industry, satellite manufacturing, and ground equipment. Dauria Aerospace’s operations touch almost all of these subsectors, with an overall strategic goal of establishing a low-cost infrastructure for rapid monitoring of ground assets and activity, I2BF reports.
“In the two years since Dauria Aerospace was founded, we’ve reached several key milestones in technology development and have successfully secured contracts and established our global presence,” adds Mikhail Kokorich, president of Dauria Aerospace. “We are confident that with our new partnership with I2BF Global Ventures and the invested capital, we will succeed in reaching our amplified goals in the next few years.”
Source: I2BF