There are thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth, and more and more are capable of capturing all kinds of images in real time.
It is a rather complicated process to access the image. But Austin-based startup SkyFi has built a platform that acts as “Getty Images” for more than 50 geospatial imagery partners that have proven popular in the worlds of finance, defense, infrastructure, and insurance – to name a few.
Its popularity grew when SkyFi began offering more analytics and insights to customers through its website and mobile app, along with the ability to “assign” satellites to take pictures of a location at a specific time, CEO Luke Fischer recently told TechCrunch in an interview.
“I think the real goal for us is to provide answers to our customers, government and commercial,” Fischer said. “Image is a commodity, or has become a commodity, (so) it’s not just about the speed of delivery, but more importantly, the speed of delivery of answers to customers.”
Being able to provide insights along with easily accessible imagery is a big reason why SkyFi just closed a $12.7 million Series A funding round, according to Fischer.
That is reflected in the makeup of investors round. It is led by climate-focused funds Buoyant Ventures and IronGate Capital Advisors, which invest in dual-use companies. Other investors include DNV Ventures (the investment arm of 160-year-old maritime company DNV), Beyond Earth Ventures (a space-focused company), and TFX Capital (which has made several defense-related space investments).
Fischer said and co-founder Bill Perkins – who comes from the world of hedge funds, hence the emphasis on generating actionable insights – first only sought to raise a round of around $8 million.
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But 2025 is a record year defense related investmentsand SkyFi received more investor demand than expected, Fischer said. The company increased its target to $10 million, and again to $12 million, before reaching the figure of $12.7 million after several strategic investors joined the round. (One is DNV; Fischer declined to name the others on the record.)
Fischer said SkyFi is having a harder time convincing satellite imagery providers to give them access to the data. Now, he said, providing new providers is “table tattoo.”
“It took a little bit for us to reach this point, (but) we have the largest virtual constellation of assets. That means we have all the data sources in the world for us, all kinds of different sensors,” he said. SkyFi has been able to use all of this data and, most importantly, the many requests it has received from customers over the past few years to build an analytical offering that it can sell to commercial and government customers.
“We know it better than anyone can ask,” he said.
Fischer says he learned first-hand how powerful this kind of feedback can be from his time helping lead Uber’s Elevate division.
“Uber has data on where people go in the world. They layer different products, bikes, scooters, electric planes, drone delivery. We have the same data as what people see in the world that they ask for the data,” he said. “It gives us a better purview. And again. We are software first, so I don’t have the burden of paying the capital cost of hardware.
Some of those customers want to build their own analytics, like hedge funds, Fischer explained. But the most interested in what SkyFi has to offer on the side of insight, he said.
The company plans to use the new funding to expand all of this, though Fischer clearly takes pride in building a product that’s so capable yet approachable that his family uses it.
“My teenage daughter did satellite work for high school, and now college, homework on iPhones,” she said.