WASHINGTON — Quindar has raised an additional $6 million to further development of software to automate operations of satellite constellations.
The company announced Jan. 30 that it closed $6 million in funding as an extension to a $2.5 million seed round it announced a year ago. Venture capital firm Fuse led the round with participation from existing investors Y Combinator and Founders Fund.
Quindar has developed software designed to automate satellite operations. The company says it has validated that system with an unnamed customer who is using it to manage a growing fleet of spacecraft.
Nate Hamet, chief executive and co-founder of Quindar, said the company is working with a range of commercial and government customers. Among them is KSAT, the ground station operator, which is using Quindar’s software to provide satellite operations services to its customers.
“Our customers include a diverse group of commercial and governmental satellite owners, manufacturers, and payload-as-a-service customers,” Hamet said. “They are a mix of startups flying their first satellite, customers scaling their constellation, enterprise testing their proof of concept and companies like KSAT who are looking to fly multiple constellations with our platform.”
Quindar’s software is designed to abstract away the complexities of satellite operations, a particular challenge for companies working with multiple satellite systems or constellations that include satellites from different manufacturers. “We have identified a critical market demand: the ability to operate multiple satellite busses and payloads from a single platform,” the company stated.
Hamet said the funding will allow Quindar to expand its sales and engineering teams with a focus on developing “advanced AI to facilitate truly autonomous satellite operations,” which the company calls an “AI autopilot” but with a manual override.
“This investment is pivotal in our mission to transform satellite management, enabling our clients to prioritize their data services with greater security, efficiency, and reliability,” he said.
