The round includes a strategic investment from the NATO Innovation Fund, alongside British Business Bank, Space Frontiers Fund II with SPARX Asset Management Co. Ltd. as fund manager, and Presto Tech Horizons, reinforcing SatVu's institutional backing as it scales toward sovereign-relevant thermal intelligence capabilities.
SatVu operates as a UK-based thermal intelligence company that uses high-resolution infrared imaging from space to reveal operational activity and infrastructure performance, providing what it describes as "Activity Intelligence" around the clock by detecting heat signatures that are otherwise invisible in conventional imagery.
With the new capital, SatVu plans to place two additional satellites in orbit in 2026 and has initiated contracts for three more, mapping out a path toward a constellation designed to increase revisit frequency and enable persistent monitoring of activity, operational readiness, and patterns of life across the globe.
HotSat-2 and HotSat-3 are planned for launch in 2026, while HotSat-4 and HotSat-5, together with long-lead elements of HotSat-6, are now under contract, securing key components and timelines that SatVu says are critical for delivering its constellation.
The company states that this funding capitalises SatVu through its next value inflection point by supporting near-term launches and accelerating the build-out required for persistent, scalable thermal intelligence, marking a transition from technology demonstration to commercial scaling for defence and sovereign customers.
Camilla Taylor, Chief Financial Officer at SatVu, said the round secures the company's path to execute at scale, highlighting that the firm now has "a clear and credible path to a multi-satellite constellation" and investors aligned with its ambition and pace.
"This round provides the ability to move fast into sustained delivery this year - driving a major value inflection as we scale commercial operations and position the business for its next growth phase," Taylor said.
Anthony Baker, cofounder and CEO of SatVu, framed the company's mission as providing governments with access to intelligence they cannot obtain elsewhere, pointing to high-resolution thermal imagery as a way to reveal activity day and night, including heat signatures from operations inside and around buildings and critical infrastructure.
According to Baker, this thermal data allows governments to assess activity, readiness, and operational change, which he described as "a critical new data layer that matters for defence, security, and sovereign decision-making" in an increasingly contested global environment.
"This investment enables us to scale a UK-built, sovereign thermal capability into a multi-satellite constellation supporting government customers in the UK and across Allied nations worldwide," Baker said, adding that applications range from monitoring critical infrastructure and military supply chains to detecting covert activity and verifying what other sensors cannot.
"This round strengthens our ability to deliver at scale, accelerating our strategy and increasing our agility to respond to evolving defence and security requirements - positioning SatVu to be the partner of choice for nations that cannot afford uncertainty in an increasingly contested world," he added.
Trisha Saxena, Senior Associate at the NATO Innovation Fund, said SatVu's thermal intelligence technology offers governments and businesses across NATO nations a level of detailed data that was not previously available, and described the company as revolutionising the Earth observation market for security, finance and commodities sectors.
"We are pleased to support SatVu as it revolutionises the earth observation market, delivering critical insights to the security, finance and commodities sectors to help safeguard defence and economic activity across the Alliance," Saxena said.
George Mills, Investment Director at British Business Bank, said SatVu has built a unique technology at a time of strong demand for defence innovation, noting that the company has demonstrated the strategic value of its capabilities and that the new funding will help it scale and win further contracts.
SatVu's growth has also been supported by UK government defence innovation programmes, including an ongoing Defence Innovation Loan awarded through the Defence and Security Accelerator, now part of UK Defence Innovation, which has helped crowd in private capital.
Luke Pollard, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, said the government is committed to strengthening national security by scaling British small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups that keep the UK's defence industry at the leading edge of innovation.
"Last year we backed SatVu with a defence innovation loan, which has already helped spark 30 million pounds further private investment through this funding round," Pollard said, arguing that support for defence firms through UK Defence Innovation is building British sovereign capabilities and driving economic growth.
SatVu says its high-resolution thermal constellation is being designed for persistence, reliability and global relevance, giving customers a new, trusted layer of insight intended to define what large-scale thermal Earth observation can deliver for defence, security and national infrastructure.
The latest round also includes follow-on participation from existing investors Molten Ventures, which led the round, as well as Adara Ventures, Ridgeline Ventures, NOA, Lockheed Martin, Seraphim Space Fund and Stellar Ventures, reflecting continued confidence from earlier backers.
As governments and allied institutions place increasing emphasis on resilience, readiness and independent intelligence, SatVu positions its sovereign thermal capability as a way to operate at scale and provide a persistent layer of insight that strengthens decision-making across defence, security and critical infrastructure networks.
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