Founded in 2014, EPFL spin-off Astrocast aims to create a low-cost global satellite network that specifically targets the coverage of maritime areas and emerging countries, areas that are poorly serviced by the existing cellular networks.
Current cellular networks cover roughly only 10% of the Earth’s surface, and low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN) cover only a fraction of this. More than 5 billion IoT devices are expected by 2025, and a rapidly growing part of these needs to be connected by satellite.
Through its Nanosatellite IoT Network, Astrocast is the first company to offer commercial access to L-band frequency for reliable and energy-efficient two-way IoT communications around the world.
100 satellites by the end of 2024
After launching a second nanosatellite in 2019 and raising CHF 9 million to accelerate the launch of its commercial constellation, the start-up located in Chavannes-près-Renens (canton of Vaud) is now listed on Euronext Growth Oslo.
Prior to the listing, Astrocast offered new shares to investors and raised CHF 40 million in capital from investors, which include Palantir and a syndicate led by US-based Adit Ventures.
“The fundraising and listing represent major steps for the company as we are now accelerating the deployment of our constellation. After a successful launch of five new satellites in late June this year, the company’s current network comprises 10 operating satellites in orbit. We plan to increase this to a total of 100 satellites by the end of 2024.”
