ICEYE raises €200 million as Europe races to close its space intelligence gap
Finnish satellite company ICEYE has raised fresh capital at a valuation of about €2.4 billion, using Europe’s defence spending surge to lock in scale and speed for its radar satellite fleet.
The round, led by General Catalyst, includes €150 million in new equity and a €50 million secondary sale for early investors. CEO Rafal Modrzewski says the aim is simple: to put more satellites in orbit sooner and strengthen Europe’s ability to see and track activity on the ground.
Along with General Catalyst, which has also backed European drone maker Helsing, the round includes AP Møller Holding, Bpifrance and several Finnish and Polish investors, including the investment arm of state development bank BGK and the family office of InPost founder Rafal Brzoska. ICEYE says it has raised about €600 million in total to date.
“Nobody wants Europe to be ready in five years,” he said. “People want Europe to be ready tomorrow.”
ICEYE started in 2014 as an Earth observation company focused on climate and environmental monitoring. The war in Ukraine pulled it firmly into defence. The company builds synthetic aperture radar satellites, which can image targets through cloud, smoke and darkness, and has become part of the sensor layer that allies now treat as critical infrastructure.
ICEYE has signed deals with the armed forces of Poland, Portugal, Finland and the Netherlands, and is in talks with more European customers. On the industrial side, it is working with large defence primes rather than trying to stand alone. A joint venture with Rheinmetall, agreed in May, is intended to push satellite production to true defence scale.
ICEYE launched 25 satellites this year and the company now plans to produce roughly one satellite per week next year. For Europe, the ICEYE round is a sign that this kind of intelligence capacity is no longer a niche space project. It is part of the core defence build out, with commercial companies competing to become the default eyes of the continent.