Key facts
- Northwood Space said the Series C was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and DFJ Growth, with Alpine Space Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, Stepstone Activate and In-Q-Tel among participants.
- Northwood Space said the round brought total capital raised to more than $500 million.
- Northwood Space secured a separate multi-year credit facility from HSBC Innovation Banking of undisclosed value alongside the round.
- CEO Bridgit Mendler said Northwood plans to reach and surpass the hundreds of ground sites operated by the largest existing ground networks.
- Northwood Space said it plans to grow from 140 employees to more than 540 across Washington, D.C. and Torrance, California.
Northwood Space said on Monday it had raised $375 million in a Series C round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and DFJ Growth, valuing the satellite ground network developer at $2 billion. The company said the round brought total capital raised to more than $500 million.
Payload reported that Alpine Space Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, Stepstone Activate and In-Q-Tel were among additional participants. Alongside the equity round, Northwood secured a separate multi-year credit facility from HSBC Innovation Banking; the company did not disclose its value. Northwood said the funding and the facility will be used to scale the company, hire and fulfill existing contracts.
The company, founded in 2022 and led by co-founder and CEO Bridgit Mendler, builds antennas, software and other technology that help satellites communicate with Earth. It is attempting to build the world's largest ground-station network, and the round will fund antenna deployment at more ground stations worldwide.
The Series C comes less than nine months after a $100 million Series B, also co-led by Andreessen Horowitz. In January, Northwood announced a three-year, $49.8 million contract with the US Space Force to support the military's Satellite Control Network, and it has been delivering ground links from satellites in geostationary orbit under that contract.
In June, Northwood unveiled Prism, a parabolic dish designed for multi-gigabit links, and set out a plan to grow its network to rival terrestrial internet peering exchanges. In August it opened a 185,000 square foot facility in Torrance, California, to support production of hundreds of ground antennas a year across two product lines.
Mendler told reporters on a press call on Friday that the largest existing ground networks operate hundreds of sites, and that Northwood plans to reach and surpass that scale. Velocity reported that Northwood plans to grow from 140 employees to more than 540 across Washington, D.C. and Torrance.