A French satellite internet company has completed a major funding round worth $32 million as it prepares to launch thousands of satellites in an ambitious bid to become Europe’s dominant space-based internet provider.
Univity announced Thursday that it successfully closed the 27 million euro Series A funding round, which when combined with a 31 million euro contract from France’s space agency, brings the company’s total secured funding to 68 million euros. CEO Charles Delfieux revealed that French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance joined the funding round alongside investment platform Blast and venture capital fund Expansion.
The funding comes as France spearheads European efforts to decrease dependence on American satellite internet providers like SpaceX’s Starlink.
Univity has adopted a different business strategy than competitors such as Elon Musk’s Starlink or Amazon, which market their services directly to individual customers. Instead, the French company focuses on telecommunications companies, working to share infrastructure while providing space-based internet and mobile services to these operators. Delfieux told Reuters that his company has already secured 16 partnerships with operators spanning four continents.
The company, which launched operations in 2022, has outlined plans to construct a constellation of up to 3,400 satellites positioned in very low Earth orbit approximately 375 kilometers above the planet’s surface. This ambitious project would establish Univity as Europe’s largest satellite operator, though it would still trail SpaceX’s Starlink, which currently operates around 10,000 satellites, and Amazon’s Leo project, which plans to deploy roughly 7,000 satellites.
Telecommunications companies worldwide have increasingly partnered with satellite service providers to incorporate space-based mobile and fixed connectivity options, particularly to extend coverage to remote regions where upgrading ground-based networks would prove more costly.
Delfieux, who previously worked at the World Bank before founding Univity, explained the competitive landscape: “In this new era of satellite communication pushed by Starlink and Amazon, mass production and recurrent prices have become the battle(field).”
He added: “One way to provide highly competitive services to our clients is to internalize production.”
The company plans to manufacture its satellites near Toulouse to control costs more effectively. The current funding will enable Univity to deploy its initial two satellites before transitioning to an infrastructure financing approach for large-scale expansion beginning in 2028, which will involve partnerships with “deep-pocketed investors” including infrastructure funds and telecommunications operators.
