INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
YC-backed Astranis has raised $90 million of new combined debt and equity funding in a Series B round led Venrock, with a sizeable
contribution by existing investor (and lead of their 2018 round) Andreessen Horowitz
The funding will be used to help the company launch its first commercial satellites, the bedrock of its future internet service offering,
aimed at connecting the massive market of underserved populations around the world.Astranis emerged from stealth in 2018 when it announced
different strategy from the increasingly numerous entrants in the satellite internet race who plan to deploy large constellations of
connection via a kind of relay system through ground stations to offer continued service.The geostationary model that Astranis is embracing
is somewhat more similar to the existing way of offering internet connectivity from space, which employs very large communications satellite
parked in geostationary orbit fairly far away from Earth
compared to over 14,000 lbs for legacy satellites.Astranis has made it possible to use smaller satellites thanks to its proprietary
ultra-sideband software-defined radio tech, which can provide more bandwidth on much smaller and less complicated hardware, using digital vs
These not only save a ton of space, but can be built and launched with a turnaround time of just months rather than years for the large,
geostationary telecommunications spacecraft of yore.As mentioned, this is a combined debt and equity round, including $40 million of equity
funding with participating by Y Combinator and others in addition to Venrock and Andreessen
The remaining $50 million of debt facility comes from TriplePoint Capital
Astranis will be looking to this year and next as the time to grow its internet service provider partnerships, as well as build out its
relationships with governments and the rest of the industry.Astranis signed an agreement with launch provider SpaceX last year for a ride
for their first commercial satellite, with the aim of having that mission take place sometime as early as the fourth quarter of 2020
The company has raised $108 million to date, but it has deep-pocketed competitors eyeing the same opportunity with different technologies,
