Paris-based Skynopy, a NewSpace startup providing ground station services for low Earth orbit satellites, has completed a €15 million fundraising round less than 18 months after its founding to deploy a global network of high-throughput ground stations, enabling real-time satellite data downlink services.
The round was led by Alven and saw participation from funds Expansion, Omnes and CNES via the SpaceFounders programme. Heartcore, the European fund historically leading Skynopy’s investments, also participated in this round.
“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,” concluded Pierre Bertrand, Co-founder and CEO of Skynopy .
Founded 2023 by Pierre Bertrand (CEO) and Antonin Hirsch (CTO), both former executives at Loft Orbital, Skynopy offers turnkey, high-speed ground station services (antennas) for satellites that are rapidly deployable and require no heavy upfront investment. Within less than a year, it has added more than 15 antennas to its network, combining third-party ground station integrations and strategic partnerships (AWS, Kinéis) with deployments of its own antennas.
Its ambition is to make satellite connectivity as accessible and seamless as mobile telephony.
Thanks to its hybrid economic model – combining shared existing infrastructure with proprietary assets – coupled with software orchestration and virtualised modem technologies, Skynopy delivers a service that reportedly reduces revisit time to under 20 minutes and doubles the data download volume per satellite pass.
This modular approach allows satellite operators with high data download needs (hyperspectral imagery, video, SAR) to double their image download volume without additional costs. For operators generating smaller data volumes, the startup can halve their data download costs.
Additionally, Skynopy is finalising a significant global agreement with a major industry player, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
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 – a unified, high-speed, real-time space network planned for 2028.
With this vision, Skynopy aims to fundamentally transform the rules of orbital connectivity.
“By integrating the best existing infrastructure and focusing on practical, user-oriented value, Skynopy has built – in just a few short months – a service that is already being adopted by strategic clients. We were particularly impressed by the team’s deep technical expertise, sharp commercial understanding of the market, and above all, their remarkable speed of execution. We are confident they have what it takes to become the next global leader in the satellite ground segment”, said François Meteyer, Partner at Alven.
Satellite operators need the densest possible network of ground stations (antennas) to communicate with their satellites as they pass overhead in orbit. This is essential both for sending telecommands to capture new images of the Earth and for downloading those images. Investing in their own antenna infrastructure used to require heavy capital expenditure. Skynopy now provides this service for them.
During the ground phase – when satellites are being designed and tested – Skynopy supports operators with technical assistance to help maximise mission performance. Once the satellite is in orbit, Skynopy offers a software interface for booking ground antennas managed by Skynopy. When a satellite passes over one of these antennas, Skynopy points it at the satellite to enable data transmission in both directions – between the satellite and the customer’s command and control center.
The customer pays based on usage of Skynopy’s antenna network.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/06/french-spacetech-skynopy-raises-e15-million-to-build-satellite-ground-station-network/
