French SpaceTech Skynopy Secures $16.2 Million Funding

Paris-based Skynopy, a NewSpace startup, has completed a $16.2 million funding round. The company provides ground station services for low Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time satellite data downlink. This capital will be used to deploy a global network of high-throughput ground stations.

The round was led by Alven. Participating investors included funds Expansion, Omnes, CNES via the SpaceFounders programme, and Heartcore. Heartcore has historically invested in Skynopy.

Skynopy was founded in 2023 by Pierre Bertrand, CEO, and Antonin Hirsch, CTO. Both previously held executive positions at Loft Orbital. The company offers turnkey, high-speed ground station services, including antennas, designed for rapid deployment without significant upfront investment for operators.

Skynopy's operational model combines shared existing infrastructure with proprietary assets, alongside software orchestration and virtualized modem technologies. This approach aims to reduce satellite revisit time to under 20 minutes and double data download volume per satellite pass for high-data operators. For operators with smaller data volumes, the service can halve data download costs. The company has integrated more than 15 antennas into its network within a year, through third-party ground station integrations and strategic partnerships with entities like AWS and Kinéis, in addition to deploying its own antennas. Skynopy is also finalizing a global agreement with a major industry player.

The funding will accelerate Skynopy's commercial deployment, strengthen its technical and marketing teams, and secure resources for its AKAR project, a unified, high-speed, real-time space network planned for 2028.

"This fundraising marks a turning point. We will now deploy a large-scale network capable of meeting the growing needs of satellite operators, ensuring both performance and ease of use," commented Pierre Bertrand, Co-founder and CEO of Skynopy.

Satellite operators require dense ground station networks to communicate with their satellites for telecommands and data download. Skynopy aims to provide this service, reducing the need for operators to invest heavily in their own antenna infrastructure. During the ground phase of satellite development, Skynopy offers technical assistance. Once satellites are in orbit, the company provides a software interface for booking its managed ground antennas, facilitating bidirectional data transmission. Customers are billed based on usage of Skynopy's network.