A simulated image of what Albedo’s Very Low Orbit satellite imagery will look like. Photo: Albedo

Albedo raised a $35 million Series A-1 financing round announced on Tuesday, to launch the company’s first operational satellite to collect ultra-high resolution imagery. These funds bring Albedo’s total funding to $97 million. 

Standard Investments led the round and new investors Booz Allen Ventures, Cubit Capital, and Bill Perkins joined the round as well. The investment from Booz Allen Ventures’ investment was the first space-specific investment made by the fund. 

The round also included participation from existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Shield Capital, Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, Giant Step Capital, Republic Capital, and other undisclosed participants. 

Albedo is working to commercialize Very Low-Earth Orbit (VLEO). The company says that by flying its satellites low, it can capture visible and thermal imagery at a resolution far higher than what exists today. Albedo says its constellation will co-collect native 10 centimeter optical imagery and 2 meter thermal infrared imagery, resolutions that can only be obtained today by drones and planes. 

Booz Allen said this investment is aligned with its focus on dual-use commercial technology solutions.

“We invested in Albedo because of their approach: successfully combining high-resolution imaging typical of aerial, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and balloon platforms with the scalable, persistent, global coverage of satellites,” commented Travis Bales, managing director of Booz Allen Ventures. “This unlocks vast applications across multiple sectors, including defense and intelligence, climate, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and urban planning, and we couldn’t be more excited.”