Kepler Communications, a Toronto-based satellite telecommunications startup has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Manhattan-based IA Ventures. Other investors included Liquid 2 Ventures, Techstars, Globalive Capital, BDC, and a number of high profile angel investors.
“IA Ventures invested in Kepler because we believe this infrastructure is needed to advance our society that continues to stretch the carrying capacity of the Earth,” Brad Gillespie, Partner at IA Ventures.
The startup, which is known for building a network of low-cost satellites to improve communication infrastructure in space, plans to use the funding to launch satellites and deploy an initial service by the second half of 2017.
According to Kepler, it is building a network of “CubeSats” which are satellites roughly the size of a loaf of bread, to relay real-time messages sent by machines, acting as a service provider for IoT devices (Internet of Things) both on the earth’s surface and in-orbit.
“The vision is to empower businesses with real-time actionable information tomorrow where today this data is often hours delayed,” says Mina Mitry, Founder and CEO, Kepler.
Since our satellites are small, they’re significantly cheaper and can be replaced with newer technology every two to three years. Compared to conventional satellites that would operate for eight years or more with dated technology.
Kepler explains that it takes a unique approach using small, replaceable, low-cost satellites following a shift in the industry towards agile development. It claims that many companies, like Spire and Planet, are moving away from large monolithic satellites that would operate for 7-10 years to many small spacecraft that are replaced every 2-3 years.
“This approach aligns well with our strategy to incrementally deploy infrastructure to meet customer demand and learn along the way,” added Mitry.
Kepler’s seed round was oversubscribed, and with this funding, the startup has raised $5.5 million to date.