“To communicate with satellites, we need parabolic antennas on the ground. These infrastructures are expensive but their owners sometimes only use them 5 to 20% of the time. » Last October, Pierre Bertrand teamed up with Antonin Hirsch to create the Airbnb of space: Skynopy. The idea: rent the antennas from their owners when they are not in use to create a network of ground stations, in order to collect data from satellites.
“Space X has made it possible to democratize satellite production and reduce costs. But for the moment, ground stations have not yet been disrupted. This is the mission we gave ourselves,” underlines Pierre Bertrand, who wants, at the same time, to invest in his own branches, in interesting geographical sectors. Particularly overseas, in Reunion Island, or in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, close to the United States.
Photos of Earth
Skynopy thus wishes to address satellite operators, which are companies or governments wishing to recover data in low orbit. “The biggest use case is photos of the Earth. For Defense in particular. Satellites can photograph tanks in Ukraine to locate them. But also monitor the climate, taking photos of the ice floes, forest fires, etc. »
Another market for the startup: offering services in orbit, to extend the life of satellites or work with laboratories that wish to cultivate cells in microgravity, for example. “Data needs are growing”underlines Pierre Bertrand, who also plans to provide connectivity kits to his customers and make the antennas of his network available to them for a specific mission. “A player who wants to send four satellites to monitor forest fires will have a strong interest in paying according to their use. If he purchases an antenna, it will amount to 50% of the cost of the project,” believes the leader.
Recruit 20 people
Barely a few months after its creation, Skynopy has already succeeded in attracting investors to finance a first fundraising round. The startup has just raised 3.1 million euros from a pool of investors made up of the pan-European fund Heartcore Capital, Kima Ventures, Better Angle as well as business angels and BpiFrance. The objective of this first round of funding: to increase partnerships with antenna owners to densify its network. “Our desire is also to quickly purchase our first antenna. » With these funds, Skynopy also wants to recruit the best profiles for software development and infrastructure. The company plans to recruit around twenty people to expand its team of 10 employees.
Ultimately, the startup plans to “democratize space” thanks to its economic model which will allow it to scale up quickly. “For us, this is the first step. The idea is then to develop new uses and new technologies. Satellites will soon be able to take over from telecom operators for mobile telephony. »
