The Compression Company founders, Joe Griffith, left, and Michael Stanway. Photo: The Compression Company

Software startup The Compression Company announced a $3.4 million pre-seed round of financing, led by veteran venture capital firm Long Journey, on Thursday.

The Compression Company is focused on AI-driven compression of Earth observation data. Instead of using blanket compression, its software is designed to preserve more detailed data while heavily compressing homogenous areas like open ocean or cloud cover.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft have estimated that only 2% of Earth observation data collected by satellites returns to the ground.

In a press release, the company said its software-only solution allows operators to download more data in each transmission window, reduce storage and transmission costs, and produce information faster and more frequently.

The startup has shipped its first orbital deployment, which is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of this year.

“AI compression unlocks a huge opportunity with Earth Observation data. Operators have always had to make trade-offs about what gets sent,”  The Compression Company CTO Joe Griffith said. “When more of the data you collect can actually make it to the ground, those trade-offs change and you can be far more selective about what you throw away, and far more ambitious about the services you build on top.”

Griffith met CEO Michael Stanway as neurotechnology students at Imperial College London. His research studied how the human brain compresses information, while Stanway’s work required the use of massive imaging datasets. The two decided that space was the data-intensive field that most urgently required a solution for the loss of information to limited bandwidth.

Long Journey, the lead investors of the funding round, was an early backer for SpaceX, Uber, and Anduril. The Compression Company said the capital will be used to hire more engineers and support commercial rollouts with satellite operators.