Skynopy co-founders CTO Antonin Hirsch, left, and CEO Pierre Bertrand, right.

Skynopy, a French startup, has raised another 15 million euros ($17.57 million) in funding, just over 18 months since the company was created. This investment supports the Skynopy’s ambition to deploy a global network of high-throughput ground stations (S-, X-, and Ka-bands), with the aim of enabling real-time satellite data downlink services for Earth Observation (EO) constellations. The company announced the new funding, June 30.

The company uses a hybrid economic model that combines shared existing infrastructure with proprietary assets and software orchestration and virtualized modem technologies. Skynopy aims to deliver a service that reduces revisit time to under 20 minutes and doubles the data download volume per satellite pass. Founded at the end of 2023, Skynopy offers turnkey, high-speed ground station services for satellites. In less than a year, it has added more than 15 antennas to its network, combining third-party ground station integrations and strategic partnerships with with deployments of its own antennas.

Alven led the funding round, with participation from Expansion, Omnes and CNES via the SpaceFounders program. Skynopy said this funding will allow Skynopy to accelerate its commercial deployment, strengthen its technical and marketing teams, and secure the necessary resources to deploy its AKAR project, described as a a unified, high-speed, real-time space network planned for 2028.

“This fundraising marks a turning point. In less than 18 months, we have demonstrated that an agile, interoperable, and CAPEX-free model can compete with industry giants. Thanks to our investors’ confidence, we will now deploy a large-scale network capable of meeting the growing needs of satellite operators, ensuring both performance and ease of use,” Pierre Bertrand, co-founder and CEO of Skynopy, said in a statement.