Wyvern, a Canada-based space data company, raised $7 million for the launch and operation of its first three satellites. The funding was led by Uncork Capital and funded by key investors such as MaC Venture Capital and Y Combinator.
Earlier, the company had secured $8 million in two funding rounds. Wyvern plans to offer hyperspectral imaging from space by early next year.
“The funds we’ve raised go towards the launch and operation of Wyvern’s first three satellites which will provide high quality, 5 m resolution hyperspectral imagery to early adopters in early 2023,” says Chris Robson, Wyvern CEO.
“Industry leaders are seeing the opportunity and taking action, which is exciting and brings new challenges. Even at the fast rate of constellation growth we’re planning, demand will soon begin to outstrip supply and early adopters will be glad to have secured their seats.”
“We have been impressed from the get-go by the Wyvern team and their ambition to empower a number of industries with their hyperspectral imagery,” says Jeff Clavier, Founder and Managing Partner, Uncork Capital, a seed-stage venture firm.
“Like our other space tech company Loft Orbital, Wyvern is demonstrating the technical innovation and the novel approach that will democratize access to space-based observations.”
The hyperspectral imagery technique compiles visible and non-visible wavelengths and forms 3D data blocks with the information. These information blocks help industries to analyse the data in an efficient manner.
The pro-activeness and sophistication of the entire technique make it easy for areas such as vegetation stress, methane levels, pipeline leaks and invasive species to be traced and tracked.
Hyperspectral imagery has been an unviable option for most industries due to its high-cost operation.
However, Wyverns deployable satellites will use Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) technology and come at a low cost, making it accessible for most industries.
