Occitanie-based startup Kinéis has reached its capital-raising target of €100 million. The funds will be used to fulfill its ambition to provide universal satellite connectivity, adding 25 nanosatellites and aiming to be in orbit by 2022.
Kinéis, founded in 2018, is an independent, private satellite operator. An emerging player in the new space sector, the company wants to lead innovation in global connectivity for the IoT domain. Through its technologies, Kinéis works closely with terrestrial IoT operators, current satellite operators and connected object manufacturers, to locate and collect data all over the globe in all conditions.
It is one of the first nanosatellite constellations dedicated to IoT to be fully financed. Support comes from CLS, CNES, Bpifrance via the fund for Industrial Project Companies (SPI), the ‘Investments for the Future’ Programme and the European Investment Bank, Ifremer, Thales, CELAD, BNP Paribas Développement, HEMERIA and other industrial and financial partners.
The unfailing support of CNES, the French space agency, underlines the project’s importance and signals that it is benefiting from major technical support. Kinéis has also established strategic commercial partnerships with Bouygues Telecom, Suez, the Wize Alliance and Arribada, and filled its order book.
Alexandre Tisserant, who was appointed President of Kinéis at the same time, comments: “We are very proud to have reached this major milestone. With the funds needed to launch our constellation, we are now free to focus entirely on satellite manufacturing and commercial deployment.”
The project will both comply with France’s Space Operations Act and avoid space debris. The Kinéis satellites, weighing less than 30kg, will be equipped with an electric propulsion system that will secure end-of-life de-orbiting and enable collision-avoidance capabilities.
