3D render of planet Earth viewed from space. Photo: NASA

Airmo, another climate and space-based start-up, has closed a pre-seed funding round of 5.2 million euros ($5.69 million). The company announced the funding round June 27. This pre-seed round will enable Airmo to launch its first out of 12 satellites into orbit as its aims to revolutionize transparency on the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. The round is combined money from leading space- and impact investors as well as a large contract by the European Space Agency.

One of the greenhouse gases that AIRMO is monitoring, methane, accounts for more than 25% of the global warming, according to the company. Due to its structure, methane traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule than carbon dioxide, making it 80 times more harmful than CO2 for 20 years after it is released. This makes large methane leaks that go undetected for weeks or even months particularly harmful for the climate. AIRMO cited one such super emitter event last year that produced 427 tonnes of methane an hour in August near Turkmenistan; saying that this single leak is equal to the hourly national emissions of France.

Airmo says its satellites will make it easier for companies to monitor GHG emissions in various and often remote locations, and provide a resolution down to the facility level, enabling exact and reliable allocation of emissions to its source.

“Since the last founding round, we have made significant strides in our mission. We are proud to be an official partner of the Aiming for net zero initiative of OGCI (Oil and Gas Climate Initiative), a testament to our commitment and progress in the fight against climate change,” Daria Stepanova, co-founder of Airmo, said in a statement.