[SatNews] Planet Labs has now raised $52 million in Series B financing—new investors joining this round include prominent technology investor Yuri Milner, Industry Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Lux Capital, and Ray Rothrock. Planet Labs’ existing investors include DFJ, Capricorn, O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures (OATV), Founders Fund, First Round Capital, Innovation Endeavors, Data Collective, and AME Cloud Ventures.
“Planet Labs is revolutionizing the spacecraft sector,” said Yuri Milner. “Its passionate and high performance team is utilizing elegant science and sophisticated technology in pushing the boundaries of what was thought to be possible in satellite manufacturing and deployment” he added.
“We are excited to welcome Yuri Milner and all our new partners,” said Planet Labs Co-Founder Robbie Schingler. “This funding comes off the back of a great year. With this financing, we are well positioned for 2014 to launch Flock 1 and enter commercial service.”
In 2013 alone, the company has launched four satellites on three rockets, delivered their first fleet of 28 satellites to the launch site, and achieved significant commercial traction. This round of funding appears on the eve of Planet Labs’ commercial constellation launch of Flock 1 at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, which will be the largest constellation of Earth imaging satellites ever launched.
“It’s remarkable that Planet Labs has secured more customer bookings for 2014 than they have raised from investors so far,” said Steve Jurvetson, DFJ Managing Director and Planet Labs board member. “I have rarely seen a team perform so well.”
For more information regarding Planet Labs, access: https://www.planet-labs.com/
