Europe can't make good decisions about its own security if it has to borrow the view. Very-high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery is a core input for defence, civil security and commercial intelligence, yet Europe and many of its partners rely on non-European providers for it. When access is cut off, as it has been over Ukraine and the Strait of Hormuz, the gap is economic as well as strategic.
That's why we're leading a €6M round in Marble Imaging, bringing its total seed funding to €11.3M.
What Marble is building
Marble is setting up one of Europe's first commercial VHR constellations. Its first satellite, Marble Sat-1, is fully funded, has completed pre-flight testing and is scheduled to launch in early 2027. It will capture sub-metre imagery in the visible and near-infrared spectrum, and gather data in the short-wave infrared too. The new capital speeds up satellite and launch procurement, towards 30 satellites by 2030.
Alongside the hardware, Marble is building an AI analytics platform that turns multi-source data into answers. For us, that pairing is consequential, as the constellation grows, it trains the platform, and customers in defence, civil security and critical infrastructure get decision-support, not raw pixels.
Why we backed Marble
Europe needs its own eyes in space, and Marble Imaging is building them. The team is using AI to turn pixels into answers, exactly what government and defence customers need. They have spent their careers in this industry and know what it takes to build something very big. The product Marble will deliver doesn't exist in Europe yet, but we're convinced it has to.
What gave us conviction is how much is already de-risked. Demand is proven, the hardware comes from experienced suppliers, Marble's software already has paying customers, and the team is a trusted partner on institutional and commercial projects. As co-founder and CEO Robert Hook says, "Scaling from here is a question of capital, not technology."
Sovereign capability, in space, defence and the infrastructure beneath them, is one of the areas we're most excited about in Europe. If you're building there, we'd love to hear from you.
