SkyFi raises $12.7M to turn satellite images into insights

There are thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth, and an expanding fig of them are capable to seizure each types of images successful adjacent existent time.

It utilized to beryllium a somewhat cumbersome process to entree those images. But Austin-based startup SkyFi has built a level that acts arsenic a benignant of “Getty Images” for much than 50 geospatial imagery partners that has proven fashionable successful the worlds of finance, defense, infrastructure, and security — to sanction a few.

That popularity escalated arsenic SkyFi began offering much analytics and insights to its customers done its website and mobile app, on with the quality to “task” satellites to seizure images of a determination astatine a circumstantial time, CEO Luke Fischer precocious told TechCrunch successful an interview.

“I deliberation the existent extremity for america is providing answers for customers, some authorities and commercial,” Fischer said. “Imagery is simply a commodity, oregon it’s intimately becoming a commodity, [so it’s] not conscionable astir velocity of delivery, but much importantly, velocity of transportation of answers to customers.”

Being capable to connection insights on with easy-to-access imagery is simply a large crushed wherefore SkyFi was conscionable capable to adjacent a $12.7 cardinal Series A backing round, according to Fischer.

That’s reflected successful the capitalist constitution of the round. It was co-led by climate-focused money Buoyant Ventures and IronGate Capital Advisors, which invests successful dual-use companies. Other investors included DNV Ventures (the concern limb of 160-year-old maritime institution DNV), Beyond Earth Ventures (a space-focused firm), and TFX Capital (which has made a fig of defense-related abstraction investments).

Fischer said helium and co-founder Bill Perkins — who comes from the hedge money world, hence the accent connected generating actionable insights — initially lone sought to rise a circular of astir $8 million.

But 2025 was a grounds twelvemonth for defense-related investments, and SkyFi received much capitalist request than expected, Fischer said. The institution upped its people to $10 million, and again to $12 million, earlier arriving astatine the $12.7 cardinal fig aft immoderate strategical investors joined the round. (One was DNV; Fischer declined to sanction the different connected the record.)

Fischer said SkyFi utilized to person a harder clip convincing outer imagery providers to manus implicit entree to their data. Now, helium said, onboarding caller providers is “table stakes.”

“It took a took a small spot for america to get to this point, [but] we person largest virtual constellation of assets. That means we person each the information proviso successful the satellite for us, each the antithetic sensor types,” helium said. SkyFi has been capable to leverage each of that information and, crucially, the galore requests it’s received from customers implicit the past fewer years to physique up analytical offerings worthy selling to commercialized and authorities customers.

“We cognize amended than anyone what they’re asking for,” helium said.

Fischer said helium learned first-hand however almighty this benignant of feedback loop tin beryllium from his clip helping pb Uber’s Elevate division.

“Uber has information connected wherever radical determination successful the world. They furniture antithetic products, the bikes, the scooters, the electrical aircraft, the drone delivery. We person that equivalent information connected what radical are looking astatine successful the satellite they’re asking of that data,” helium said. “It gives america a overmuch amended purview. And again. We’re bundle first, truthful I don’t person the load of having to wage for hardware superior expenses.”

Some of those customers volition privation to bash their ain analytics, similar the hedge funds, Fischer explained. But astir are progressively funny successful what SkyFi has to connection connected the insights side, helium said.

The institution plans to usage the caller backing to grow connected each this, though Fischer is intelligibly arrogant of gathering a merchandise that is profoundly susceptible but inherently approachable, to the constituent that adjacent his household uses the product.

“My teenage daughters task satellites for their precocious school, and present college, homework connected their iPhones,” helium said.