Direct-to-device satellite firm Skylo has secured $30 million in funding.
The funding round was led by NGP Capital, with participation from Westly Group and existing investors including Intel Capital, BMW i Ventures, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and Next47.
The company said the new investment will fuel its expansion and enable broader commercial coverage in Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.
Parthsarathi Trivedi, CEO and co-founder of Skylo, said: “Skylo’s mission is to drive extreme accessibility of connectivity for cellular devices worldwide. Skylo is synonymous with anywhere connectivity for all, and this new funding allows us to enhance our market reach even farther and faster.”
Skylo has already launched its initial service across the US, Canada, and Europe in partnership with chipmakers Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, and Sony, as well as device OEMs and mobile carriers such as Deutsche Telekom.
In addition, Skylo has partnered with satellite operators, bringing the service onto fully licensed spectrum and existing satellite assets, meaning terrestrial mobile carriers can use the service without sacrificing their spectrum.
In February last year, the company secured $37 million in a third funding round, bringing its total funding to $153 million. At the time, the funds were said to be allocated to supporting smartphones, wearables, IoT devices, and mobile network operator customers.
In 2021, Skylo began offering commercial satellite-based NarrowBand IoT services through agreements with Inmarsat and SoftBank. The company signed another deal with Viasat in early 2023 which would see Skylo's technology for 3GPP Release-17 NTN industry-standard waveforms and spectrum added to Ligato's SkyTerra network.
