Space monitoring startup scores NRF backing in $37 million Series B

Veteran satellite inspection startup HEO Robotics has raised a US$25 million (A$37 million) Series B to expand its satellite imaging network into geostationary orbit.

The round was led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners, alongside the federal government’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), which tipped in $10 million, Dcode Capital and existing investors Airtree and Salus Ventures.

The new funding follows an Airtree-led $12 million Series A in 2023. A 2021 Seed round, led by Winton Group founder David Harding and Y Combinator, raised $3 million

HEO uses cameras aboard other satellites, alongside its own sensors, to turn attention to other spacecraft, then photograph and assess their condition and behaviour. Its software plots what to photograph and and analyses the results.

The company, which emerged out of UNSW Founders in 2017, said it has access to more than 50 sensors in orbit and has deployed eight of its own.

The funding will support additional sensors, satellite operator partnerships and software development as HEO expands into geostationary orbit, where telecommunications, weather and national security satellites operate.

HEO has booked its first two launches into that orbit, beginning later this year, and plans regular imaging coverage in 2027.

“Some of the world’s most critical infrastructure is operating tens of thousands of kilometres above Earth, but our ability to see and understand what is happening to it remains limited,” cofounder William Crowe said.

HEO’s customers include Australia’s Department of Defence, Japan’s Ministry of Defense and the US National Reconnaissance Office.

NRFC CEO David Gall said space is an increasingly contested and complex environment with strategic importance to Australia’s national security.

“The NRFC’s investment will enable HEO to monitor 90% of space objects of interest to Australian and allied defence and intelligence agencies, shoring up a critical sovereign defence capability for the nation,” he said.