Skylo’s executive team. From left: Dr. Andrew Kalman, Dr. Andrew Nuttall, Parthsarathi Trivedi, and Tarun Gupta. Photo: Skylo

Skylo has raised $30 million in an oversubscribed funding round, funding that CEO Parthsarathi Trivedi tells Via Satellite the company plans to invest in market expansion to grow its position in the direct-to-device (D2D) market. 

NGP Capital led the round, announced Feb. 27. Westly Group joined the round, along with existing investors Intel Capital, BMW i Ventures, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Next47, and others. This comes one year after Skylo raised $37 million in 2024. 

Skylo works with mobile network operators and device and chip manufacturers to enable standards-based D2D services using mobile satellite services (MSS) spectrum from satellite partners, including Viasat. The company is currently providing D2D service for both the Google Pixel phone and for Verizon customers with compatible devices. Skylo enabled the connectivity for Verizon’s recent D2D commercial featuring astronaut Buzz Aldrin. 

Trivedi told Via Satellite on Thursday that “millions” of devices are activated on its network in the U.S. 

As the competition is heating up in the D2D market — with AST SpaceMobile and Starlink ramping up testing and beta services with their MNO partners, and Apple investing in a next-generation cosntellation — Trivedi said Skylo is focused on providing a seamless experience of switching between cellular and satellite, and using its licensed MSS spectrum to expand its reach globally. 

“Your user experience should be that the phone rings in your pocket when you are walking outside or you are in your car. It should be that seamless. It’s not just about cost per bit, it’s about the user experience. That’s the thing we are really honing in on right now,” he said. 

In addition, Skylo announced on Thursday that its service is live this month in Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. Trivedi pointed to the benefit of using MSS spectrum for helping Skylo expand in global markets and work directly with device manufacturers in addition to MNOs. 

“The work we do to enable these markets is extremely hard,” Trivedi said. “When we go in there, we take advantage of the existing ruleset that exists in these countries for MSS. We don’t require a change in regulation to activate our service, which is a big enabler. That speaks to why we use licensed spectrum.” 

Debjit Mukerji, partner at NGP Capital, pointed to Skylo’s potential in D2D in a news release. NGP Capital is primarily backed by Nokia. 

“It is already operating one of the world’s first commercial solutions at a significant scale, with millions of consumers connected to the Skylo network,” Mukerji said. “What has unlocked Skylo’s incredible growth is the depth of its ‘standards-plus’ technology stack that democratizes access to ubiquitous mobile connectivity.”