Capella Space raises $97 million to expand satellite data products

San Francisco-based satellite imagery specialist Capella Space on Monday announced the close of nearly $100 million in financing, as the company looks to expand its line of analytics and data products.

Capella raised $97 million through a mix of equity and debt in a round led by NightDragon and joined by previous investors DCVC and Cota Capital. The company declined to specify its post-money valuation following the raise.

The venture’s business is based on combining a special type of imagery – known as synthetic aperture radar, or SAR – with a small, inexpensive spacecraft. The company is building a network of satellites that can capture images of places on Earth multiple times a day. The SAR technology allows Capella’s satellites to capture images at any time, even at night or through cloud cover.

Capella currently has seven satellites in orbit, with plans to launch more over the next two years. Capella CEO Payam Banazadeh declined to specify his company’s target number for the satellites it aims to have in its constellation, saying “it’s not about the number of satellites you want to put up.”

“It’s really about what the customers want – where they’re at with respect to the work that they’re doing with you – and how fast the market is growing,” Banazadeh said.

Capella, founded in 2016, currently has about 160 employees.

The company’s current constellation of satellites allows it to take images of “anywhere in the globe” about every three to four hours, Banazadeh noted.

Capella currently has “more than a dozen anchor customers,” Banazadeh added, and doubled its revenue over the last 12 months. The company declined to specify what it’s annual revenue currently is.