Rendering of Astrocast’s constellation. Photo: Astrocast

Swiss satellite IoT company Astrocast delisted from the Euronext Growth Exchange in Oslo, Norway, as leadership decided to take the company private. CEO Fabien Jordan explained the strategy behind the decision in an Aug. 20 LinkedIn post. 

Astrocast went public in August of 2021 as the first Swiss company on the Euronext Growth Exchange in Oslo through a direct listing. 

“From a business maturity standpoint, it was too early to list the company as we were still in a pre-revenue phase, but it provided access to sorely needed capital. Once the initial excitement of the public listing wore off in 2022, being public made it more difficult to access fresh capital,” Jordan said. 

Switzerland is not a member of the EU, which Jordan said means Astrocast had limited access to EU funding.

In addition, Jordan said being a Swiss company on the Oslo exchange came with its own challenges. The company had planned a dual listing IPO on Euronext Growth in Paris but canceled that in 2022 as funding was scarce after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Jordan credits the Oslo listing to helping Astrocast deploy its existing constellation of 18 Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, but said the company is now looking for new venture capital. Last year Astrocast secured an investment from Thuraya. The company operates L-band through a strategic alliance with Thuraya.

He claims the company has seen a 300% increase in commercial traffic on its satellite network since January of this year, and 1000% growth in annual recurring revenue. 

“Delisting the company was not easy and it was an uncharted path, but we found a way and we are now again able to raise funds from VCs,” he said. “We are currently looking for new investors who are interested to join a very lean deep tech startup at attractive conditions.”