Fossa Systems raises €9.25M early-stage round to scale sovereign satellite constellation
What's the deal? Spanish aerospace startup Fossa SystemsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed a €9.25 million early-stage round to fund international expansion and deploy its sovereign satellite capabilities.
Kibo Ventures led the round, joined by the Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica, Space Frontiers Fund II, Indico Capital, and WISeSATDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The funds will consolidate the team, push commercial growth, advance defence and security capabilities, and continue deploying a planned constellation of 140 low-orbit satellites.
Why now? Founded in 2020, Fossa has already launched more than 25 satellites and grown past 50 employees across Spain and Portugal.
Its next launch, due in the coming weeks, will be its 26th satellite. The raise lands as Europe pushes to cut its dependence on foreign players in strategic sectors.
"Europe needs technology champions capable of reducing dependencies in strategic sectors," said Kibo Ventures partner Juan López Santamaría. As part of the deal, Kibo Ventures joins the board.
What could go wrong? Building and operating satellite constellations is capital-intensive, and €9.25 million is modest against the cost of reaching 140 satellites.
Fossa is also expanding fast — opening a third office in Tokyo after Madrid and Lisbon, and signing a deal with Kanematsu Corporation for Japan's defence market. Scaling across three continents while ramping launches carries execution risk.
The signal: Fossa's vertically integrated model — manufacturing satellites in-house for IoT connectivity — underpins the cost advantage that lets it pitch sovereign space infrastructure to smaller nations and defence ministries. With government-linked backers such as Spain's Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica joining the round alongside private funds like Kibo Ventures and Indico Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the deal underscores how public and private capital are converging behind Europe's push for dual-use space independence.
Read more: Forbes España
Image credit: jurvetson
