TORONTO — Canadian satellite telecommunications company Kepler Communications announced today it has raised US$60 million in a Series B fundraising round to provide the company with a capital injection for the continued expansion of its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications network.
The new round of funding was led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Tribe Capital and included participation from new investors including Canaan Partners. Existing investors including IA Ventures and Costanoa Ventures also participated in this round. This brings the total funding raised to date by Kepler to more than US$90 million, says the company’s press release.
Kepler’s LEO network currently provides communication services to the maritime, aviation and government markets, and will soon extend coverage “outside of Earth” for applications such as Earth observation and space tourism, says the company’s press release.
“This new funding not only allows us to continue our revenue growth using existing satellites, but also enables us to introduce new services in support of our growing customer base. We are pleased to have Tribe Capital leading the round given the deep domain expertise they’ve built through investments like Relativity Space,” said Mina Mitry, CEO and co-founder of Kepler Communications, in the press release.
In March, Kepler launched two more LEO satellites, bringing its active constellation to 15 satellites in total, which Kepler says makes it the largest LEO satellite operator in Canada.
The funds raised in this new round will also be used to grow Kepler’s staff, with the company saying its growth and expansion plan is to increase its current team of 80 people to 150 by the end of 2021.
Kepler also announced today it plans to establish a presence in the United States and will be making hires in sales, marketing and engineering for a U.S.-based office soon.
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File photo of two of the company’s satellites in the lab, which are now circling the globe.
