Capella Space raises $60 million from fund run by billionaire entertainment exec Thomas Tull

San Francisco-based outer imagery specializer Capella Space raised $60 cardinal successful caller capital, the institution announced Tuesday.

Capella raised the equity from the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, a precocious established backstage concern conveyance of billionaire Thomas Tull. The capitalist is champion known for his enactment successful the movie industry, having started the accumulation workplace Legendary Entertainment down blockbuster movies specified arsenic "Dune" and "The Dark Knight."

Capella is the fund's archetypal abstraction investment, Tull told CNBC.

"It's the operation of the champion disposable imaging that we're alert of ... and different information tools" for analysis, Tull said, adding, "If you're going to instrumentality a ton of images from space, you amended beryllium capable to benignant done them."

The latest rise brings Capella to astir $250 cardinal successful full equity and indebtedness financing since its founding successful 2016. The institution declined to disclose its valuation aft the caller fund-raise.

"I've ne'er celebrated immoderate fundraisings that we've done – it was ever benignant of the happening that needed to hap for america to bash different important things – and this is akin but, arsenic you know, the marketplace is crazy. So I deliberation it validates each the bully things that we've been doing, erstwhile [we] tin rise superior from prime investors similar Thomas," Capella laminitis and CEO Payam Banazadeh told CNBC.

Capella's concern is focused connected the outer imagery market, with its satellites utilizing a specialized exertion known arsenic synthetic aperture radar, oregon SAR. The vantage of SAR is its quality to seizure images astatine immoderate time, adjacent astatine nighttime oregon done unreality screen – which is often an impediment for accepted optical outer tech.

The institution has grown its caput number to adjacent to 200 radical – astir doubling successful size past twelvemonth – and has 7 satellites presently successful orbit. While Banazadeh declined to specify however galore much satellites Capella plans to deploy successful orbit, helium said, "we person rather a bit" of its next-generation Acadia satellites lined up to motorboat this year.

"There is much request than determination is supply, and that's a bully occupation to have," Banazadeh said.

The institution doubled the measurement of imagery it collected twelvemonth implicit year, but gross maturation continues to beryllium Banazadeh's "north star."

"We're ace focused connected marketplace adoption, and truthful gross is the metric that we usage ... we had exceptional maturation successful 2022 ... and we expect akin maturation successful '23," helium said

Capella has besides brought connected a trio of executives: Chad Cohen joined arsenic main fiscal serviceman from Adaptive Biotechnologies; tech advisor Glen Elliot came connected arsenic main quality resources officer; and Paul Stephen, formerly of Zillow Group, joined arsenic main accusation officer.