Astrolight Funding News- Astrolight Raises €2.8M Seed Funding For Dual-Use Optical Comms

The lead investor was Balnord, a frontier tech investor. Other important investors included EIFO, Coinvest Capital, and current investors 3NGLS and Rita Sakus.

Astrolight is creating a communication system that works for both satellite-to-satellite and satellite-to-ground connections. They plan to offer this as a service, linking their own and other companies’ optical terminals to their ground network.

“Our long-term vision is to create the optical backbone network for space,” said Laurynas Mačiulis, CEO and co-founder of Astrolight.

“The amount of satellites and constellations is growing exponentially, but there’s still no scalable, secure way to consistently bring that data back to Earth. With laser communication, we’re closing that gap.”

Astrolight plans to set up its first working optical ground station and showcase a hybrid space-to-ground and space-to-space optical terminal using their ATLAS-1 modular design.

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Jarek Pilarczyk, Operating Partner at Balnord, says Astrolight has created a game-changing optical communication technology that is key to fixing the fast-growing data traffic problem in space.

“Their high-speed, jam-resistant solutions are not only critical for the growing satellite market but also represent the kind of frontier innovation that will define the next generation of space infrastructure.”

Earlier this year, Astrolight started a Danish branch to boost teamwork in the Nordic countries and provide secure laser communication for space devices in the Arctic area.

"This is a strategically important investment in a company whose technology plays a vital role in strengthening European space capabilities and resilience. Ground station in the Arctic is a milestone that EIFO is pleased to support as an investor, particularly given the region’s strategic importance to Denmark and EIFO,” said Louise Flyger, Investment Manager at EIFO.

Astrolight was chosen for NATO’s DIANA program, ranking in the top 3% of NATO’s dual-use startups. It has taken part in Seraphim Space and CASSINI accelerators and has commercial deals with CAILABS, the Lithuanian Navy, ESA programs, and others.

According to Marcin P. Kowalik, General Partner at Balnord, Astrolight represents the type of strategic investment that Europe needs, “leveraging our region's technical excellence to build sovereign capabilities in critical infrastructure.”

"As space becomes increasingly contested, secure communication technologies developed here in the Baltic Sea Region will be vital not only commercially but for Europe's technological independence.”

This investment will help the startup speed up building its laser communication system that safely links satellites to Earth.

About Astrolight

Astrolight was founded in 2019. The company works to create complete hardware that connects ground and space using optical technology, providing full connectivity solutions.