SWISSto12 secures €26.15M financing from UBS for HummingSat AM satellite production
September 19, 2023
SWISSto12, a provider of additively manufactured antenna and radio frequency (RF) system products based in Renens, Switzerland, has announced that it has secured a €26.15 million (CHF 25 million) working capital facility from the multinational bank, UBS Switzerland AG. The finance is expected to provide SWISSto12 with the flexible growth capital needed to meet customer demand for its geostationary SmallSat HummingSat.
“This CHF 25 million working capital facility with UBS gives us additional agility to execute on the manufacturing and delivery of our first HummingSats and address strong customer demand,” stated Emile de Rijk, Founder and CEO of SWISSto12. “With HummingSat, SWISSto12 is creating a new class of agile, high-performance SmallSat for geostationary orbit that is approximately three to five times smaller and lower cost than conventional geostationary satellites, while still reliably delivering critical services. We’re excited to build on customer demand from global satellite operators and national governments with our innovative geostationary communications satellites that will better connect and protect users worldwide.”
Since its foundation in 2011, SWISSto12 has raised over €50 million in venture capital, with prominent Swiss and European investors including Constantia New Business (CNB Capital), Swisscom Ventures, Swisscanto, and Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), have contributed to this funding.
Pär Lange, partner, Swisscom Ventures added, “SWISSto12 is the first ever growth-stage company to sell a whole geostationary satellite to global satellite operators – testament to the uniquely transformative market potential of the HummingSat platform and the team’s technical and commercial acumen. Having generated over €200 million in customer orders, SWISSto12 is also one of the few growth-stage companies able to secure a growth facility of this magnitude from a multinational bank such as UBS – the company is in a tremendously good position to reinvigorate the geostationary communications market on which billions of people depend for broadband, broadcast and safety services.”
In 2022, SWISSto12 announced that it had secured a deal to supply a HummingSat satellite to Intelsat. This was followed in May 2023 by a deal to supply three HummingSats to Inmarsat. The company’s radio frequency products and subsystems business currently have more than €200 million in back orders from customers, and has partnered with ESA and recently secured HummingSat contracts.
In addition to its growing RF product and subsystem business, SWISSto12 has partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA) to support the design of the HummingSat platform. This project has secured over €30 million of support and is said to be the first SmallSat for geostationary orbit.
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