Xona aims to accelerate the adoption of automated systems around the world by providing robust high-precision location services through a network of small satellites. The funding was oversubscribed and led by space and deep tech investors Steve Jurvetson’s Future Ventures and Seraphim Space.
BURLINGAME, Calif., May 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Xona, a company developing a network of small satellites that provide high-precision navigation services, today announced an oversubscribed $19 million Series A funding round led by Future Ventures and Seraphim Space. New investors NGP Capital, Industrious Ventures, Murata Electronics, Space Capital, and Aloniq also participated in the round.
Rendering of Xona and the Aerospacelab PNT satellite
The funding will be used to accelerate the deployment of Xona’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network as it moves toward commercialization. With this round, Xona will begin beta operations of its PULSAR™ satellite service, which aims to provide the robust high-precision guidance needed for intelligent and autonomous technologies that extend beyond highly structured environments.
“A century ago, people relied on a North Star as a reliable guide when no other options were available,” said Brian Manning, CEO and co-founder of Xona. “AI and automation are the future, and our PULSAR™ service aims to be for these industries what the North Star was for humanity in past centuries.”
Rob Desborough, general partner at Seraphim Space, explains: “After half a century of use, our reliance on GPS is absolute. An outage could cause immeasurable damage to the global economy, but enhancements could give rise to entirely new industries. Waiting for GPS to stop working, or for hostile forces to spoof it, is not an option for the security or commercial industries. Xona and their pioneering team are committed to building the GPS we need for the modern age, and we’re excited to continue supporting their transformative vision.”
Compared to GPS, PULSAR™ delivers orders of magnitude improvements in accuracy, availability and security, which is crucial for a future of autonomous systems and protecting critical national infrastructure. Key industries such as agriculture, automotive and defense are eager to move towards automation but are constantly challenged by unstructured environments and poor GPS performance. Xona’s PULSAR™ allows these devices to extend beyond their current limitations by confidently pinpointing location to within centimeters, even if they have never operated in that location before.
“We’ve been searching for the next great space company to transform the world for over a decade,” said Steve Jurvetson, co-founder and managing partner at Future Ventures. “Xona is building a powerful, precise and secured platform for global geolocation services. From autonomous vehicles to maps and asset tracking, much of the economy relies on GNSS from space. Current services have weak signals that are easily lost in buildings, urban areas and areas with signal interference. Similar to Starlink for communications links, Xona’s LEO constellation of satellites can provide a more robust and powerful solution than current systems operating in higher orbits while maintaining compatibility with end-user equipment. I’m excited to join the visionary and talented Xona team.”
The Xona team, comprised of top navigation and space experts from SpaceX, Ford, NASA and Blue Origin, has recently made impressive progress in the key areas of satellite development, user equipment integration and commercialization, and has begun selling development kits. Xona’s partners and customers include U.S. Government agencies as well as industry leaders such as the U.S. Space Force and Spirent.
“Xona is not only a pioneer in high-precision LEO navigation, but also in the commercialization of satellite navigation itself,” added Brian. “This has created many new challenges for all aspects of the company. This funding is a testament to our team’s ability to overcome these challenges and provides us with the resources we need to realize our vision.”
About Xona Space Systems, Inc.
Xona Space Systems develops independent, high-performance satellite navigation and timing systems to meet the needs of intelligent systems. Its patent-pending PULSAR™ service, delivered via secure, high-power signals from Xona’s low-orbit satellites, aims to enable the next wave of automated technology. For more information, visit www.xonaspace.com or follow X at Xona Space Systems. translator.
Source: Xona Space Systems
