Photo: Xona Space Systems

Satellite navigation startup Xona has raised $19 million in a Series A funding round, the company announced Wednesday. Future Ventures and Seraphim Space led the round, which also included new investors NGP Capital, Industrious Ventures, Murata Electronics, Space Capital, and Aloniq.

Xona is developing a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network to provide commercial navigation services. The company plans to begin beta operations of its Pulsar satellite service which is designed to provide precision navigation. Xona says that Pulsar is an improvement over GPS with greater navigation accuracy, availability, and security to support autonomous systems. The company highlights industries such as agriculture, automotive, and defense as key targets for better navigation services. 

In March, Xona signed a deal with Aerospacelab to manufacture its upcoming satellite. Xona Space Systems will provide the Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) payload.

“After half a century of use, our dependence on GPS is absolute. Outages could cause incalculable damage to the global economy, while enhancement opens up whole new industries. Waiting for GPS to fail, or for hostile powers to spoof it, is not an option for our security or commercial industries,” commented Rob Desborough, general partner at Seraphim Space. “Xona and the pioneering team are executing on building the GPS the modern era needs and we’re delighted to continue to support their transformative vision”.