OneWeb Raises Additional $1.25 Billion

Artist’s rendition of the OneWeb constellation. Photo: OneWeb

OneWeb successfully raised $1.25 billion in new capital in its largest funding round to date. This brings the total funds raised to $3.4 billion. This round was led by SoftBank Group, Grupo Salinas, Qualcomm Technologies, and the Government of Rwanda.

The new funds, following the successful first launch of OneWeb’s satellites, will help enable the company to accelerate the development of its global communications network by 2021. OneWeb’s system aims to deliver high speed, low latency, and seamless broadband access. The operator said it would launch 30 or more satellites to Low-Earth orbit starting in October on a monthly basis until it completes its 650-satellite constellation.

“This latest funding round, our largest to date, makes OneWeb’s service inevitable and is a vote of confidence from our core investor base in our business model and the OneWeb value proposition,” said OneWeb Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adrian Steckel. “With the recent successful launch of our first six satellites, near-completion of our innovative satellite manufacturing facility with our partner Airbus, progress towards fully securing our International Telecommunication Union (ITU) priority spectrum position, and the signing of our first customer contracts, OneWeb is moving from the planning and development stage to deployment of our full constellation. Our success is made possible thanks to the backing of our investors and the cooperation of our world class commercial partners including Arianespace, Airbus, Qualcomm Technologies, Virgin, and Hughes.”