Satellite Vu has raised a 拢3.6听million听seed round to launch the world鈥檚 first satellite constellation capable of imaging the thermal footprint of any building on the planet every 1-2 hours.听听听
The London company鈥檚 constellation of miniaturised satellites will use high resolution infrared cameras to collect temperature data day and night about both the natural and built environment.听听
Being less than 1/10th of the size and cost of other infrared imaging satellites, Satellite Vu is unique in being able to measure the heat signature of any building anywhere multiple times a day. This enables Satellite Vu to derive new insights about both the building and how it is being used.听听听听
This capability is a game-changer in the global quest to achieve net zero emissions,听opening up听for the first time the potential to monitor in near real time everything from the energy being wasted by poorly insulated buildings, through to measuring economic activity by observing how many shifts a factory is operating and how much energy a power station is generating.听听
This year the UK holds the Presidency of COP26, the pivotal United Nations Climate Change Conference.听 Many nations have declared plans to tackle this global challenge including President Biden鈥檚 $2tn infrastructure plan that includes plans to upgrade 4 million buildings and weatherize 2 million homes.听听听
Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, set out his 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, highlighting the challenge of greening homes and public buildings, and developing the cutting-edge technologies needed to reach these new energy ambitions.听 Satellite Vu has a solution.听
The temperature data Satellite Vu collects can quickly pinpoint the worst energy wasting buildings such that investment in energy efficiency measures can be deployed based on measurement data.听听听
鈥淭his ground-breaking and timely technology will, for the first time, allow the government and the public to make better and informed decisions on which buildings are a priority to upgrade,鈥� said Anthony Baker,听CEO of Satellite Vu.听听
鈥淭he lessons learnt from the pandemic were: test, test, test; in the climate change challenge we need to: measure, measure, measure.听 Satellite Vu鈥檚 technology is the best satellite system, by far, to measure the temperature of buildings, globally, consistently and recurrently with multiple revisits per day.鈥�听
James Bruegger, Managing Partner of Seraphim Capital,听which led the funding round,听said:听鈥淲e believe that high resolution infrared satellite data holds enormous promise for positively impacting the world.听听
鈥�A combination of poor resolution, high cost and infrequency of data capture has held back the application of this high impact dataset for decades. We鈥檝e backed Satellite Vu because it alone has the technology to address all these issues and make high resolution infrared the next major category of听space data.鈥�听
The seed round, that was multiple times oversubscribed, was also supported by A/O听PropTech听– Europe鈥檚 largest Proptech venture capital firm – alongside other specialist investors including Ridgeline Ventures, the Earth Science Foundation, E2MC Ventures and Stellar Solutions.听听
Satellite Vu has been backed by the UK Space Agency through its National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP) to support the build of the infrared sensor for its first听satellite, and听has also partnered via the SPRINT programme with the world-renowned University of Surrey to evaluate the utility of infrared observations in the maritime domain.听
The newly announced funding round will enable Satellite Vu to initiate the construction of its first satellite that is due to launch in 2022.听