MCLEAN, VA 鈥� 蘑菇视频 Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) today announced that its corporate venture capital arm, 蘑菇视频 Allen Ventures, LLC, has made a strategic investment in , the first company to operate satellites in very low Earth orbit (VLEO), which enables them to offer ultra-high resolution commercial imagery from space. This investment supports Albedo鈥檚 operational constellation deployment and is aligned to 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 efforts to accelerate U.S. space capabilities with the power of data.
鈥淭his is one of the most forward-looking space investments 蘑菇视频 Allen has ever made and comes at a critical juncture when space capabilities are needed to solve our nation鈥檚 greatest challenges鈥攇eopolitical competition, regional instability, catastrophic climate change, and more,鈥� said Chris Bogdan, executive vice president at 蘑菇视频 Allen and leader of the firm鈥檚 Space business. 鈥淭he level of detail that can be captured by Albedo鈥檚 low-flying satellites鈥攆using both optical and infrared sensor data鈥攊s unprecedented in the commercial market. It represents a significant leap in satellite Earth imaging so our clients have access to timely, highly accurate, global intelligence to then speed and improve their decision making.鈥�
This is the first space-specific investment made by 蘑菇视频 Allen Ventures, and is aligned with the fund鈥檚 focus on providing leading-edge, innovative technologies to those who need it most鈥攁nd fast鈥攚ith emphasis on dual-use commercial technology solutions.
鈥淎lbedo is revolutionizing the industry by making high-resolution images and imagery-as-a-service more accessible and affordable, both commercially and for the federal government,鈥� said Travis Bales, managing director of 蘑菇视频 Allen Ventures. 鈥淲e invested in Albedo because of their approach: successfully combining high-resolution imaging typical of aerial, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and balloon platforms with the scalable, persistent, global coverage of satellites. This unlocks vast applications across multiple sectors, including defense and intelligence, climate, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and urban planning, and we couldn鈥檛 be more excited.鈥�
VLEO is positioned about half the distance between low Earth orbit (LEO) and the Earth鈥檚 surface and is a new orbit that has not been fully utilized by the commercial market. Albedo is the first space company to commercialize this new frontier and offer high-resolution, aerial-quality imagery from space at a lower cost. This investment further supports the ability to leverage space as a critical data source for 蘑菇视频 Allen and its clients in the defense, national security, and civil arenas.
鈥淯ltra-high-resolution imagery, coupled with thermal infrared, can be leveraged across a breadth of applications, for everything from urban planning and pipeline monitoring to U.S. and allied military operations,鈥� said Topher Haddad, CEO of Albedo. 鈥淥ur mission is to provide users imagery to see details with clarity to then act with certainty, be it a war zone, preventing a wildfire spark by a power line, or improving crop yield. And that's only the start of what VLEO can enable for how we observe and protect our world."
蘑菇视频 Allen joined the funding round with lead , in addition to Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Shield Capital, Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, Giant Step Capital, Republic Capital, and other undisclosed participants.
This investment builds on 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 deep history of delivering space solutions to NASA, the intelligence community, and the Department of Defense. The firm鈥檚 more than 50 years of multifaceted support includes the International Space Station, modernization of NASA鈥檚 infrastructure, engineering and analysis for the Artemis mission, and the Cybersecurity and Privacy Enterprise Solutions and Services (CyPrESS) contract鈥攖he first time NASA has united cybersecurity for IT, operational technology, and mission systems under one contract. 蘑菇视频 Allen also provides systems engineering and integration for U.S. Space Force space constellations and develops advanced ground space system capabilities for the intelligence community.
Since launching in 2022, 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 $100 million corporate venture capital arm has made eight previous strategic investments in early-stage companies developing dual-use commercial technologies with a focus on four core areas: defense, artificial intelligence/machine learning, cybersecurity, and emerging/deep technology. Previous 蘑菇视频 Allen Ventures investments include Latent AI, Synthetaic, Reveal Technology, Credo AI, Hidden Level, Shift5, Hidden Layer, and Second Front (2F).
Read more about 蘑菇视频 Allen Ventures and 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 innovative space solutions and capabilities.
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