European space startup AIRMO has secured €5 million ($5.8 million) in seed funding to support the launch of its first greenhouse gas monitoring satellite and expand its methane detection services into new markets.
The funding round was led by Ananda Impact Ventures, with participation from Unconventional Ventures, Kopa Ventures, Desai Ventures, Hypernova, and New Venture Securities. Individual investors Matthias Fackler and Francesco Starace also contributed to the round, alongside existing investors Antler, FINDUS Venture, E2MC, and Pi Labs.
Founded in 2022, the Germany-based company develops technologies to detect methane leaks and other greenhouse gas emissions from energy infrastructure. The new funding will help AIRMO advance its first satellite mission, which is expected to launch no earlier than next year, and broaden its drone and aircraft-based monitoring services into the Middle East.
“AIRMO has a simple mission: to help operators find and stop greenhouse-gas losses, starting with methane,” said Daria Stepanova, chief executive officer of the company. “With this funding, we are moving beyond validation, into continuous monitoring that will solve this problem. And launching our first satellite mission is a major step towards realizing our ambition to monitor 12 million energy assets worldwide.”
AIRMO is developing a satellite sensor system that combines a short-wave infrared imager with a proprietary micro-LIDAR technology. The company aims to miniaturize the combined system so it can be deployed aboard small satellites while maintaining high detection accuracy.
According to the company, the combination of sensors could provide twice the accuracy of existing methane detection technologies currently available on the market.
The latest investment follows a €5.2 million pre-seed funding round announced in 2023, which the company said would support the development and launch of its first satellite mission. At that time, AIRMO had targeted the end of 2024 for the launch, though the timeline has since shifted.
AIRMO’s technology is designed to help energy operators identify methane leaks across oil and gas infrastructure, enabling faster mitigation of emissions that contribute significantly to climate change.
