The European Investment Bank has provided €25 million ($29.5 million) in venture debt financing to Luxembourg-based satellite company OQ Technology to support the expansion of its direct-to-device (D2D) communications network.
The financing requires the company to build and launch at least 20 satellites within the next two years. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. The funding is supported by the InvestEU initiative, which aims to mobilize public and private capital for strategic sectors across Europe.
“We are the only European player that is targeting D2D with good milestones achieved already,” said Omar Qaise, founder and chief executive of OQ Technology. “Having support from two big European institutes [EIB and EIC] backing up our D2D sovereign constellation concept definitely signals that there is a direction towards this from Europe… so I believe there will be a lot [of demand] coming in.”
OQ Technology plans to introduce C-band satellite connectivity directly to smartphones by mid-2026. The company currently operates ten Internet of Things satellites in low-Earth orbit that use S-band frequencies to provide tracking and monitoring services for off-grid devices.
In November 2025, the company said it successfully demonstrated the transmission of an emergency broadcast message to unmodified smartphones, marking a step toward broader direct-to-device communication capabilities.
The company said its revenue increased 130% year-on-year by the end of 2025. It plans to use the new funding to expand its workforce to more than 100 employees by the end of 2026.
OQ Technology also intends to grow its satellite fleet to 30 spacecraft over the next few years, with a long-term goal of deploying around 100 D2D payloads across dedicated satellites and hosted payload platforms. Text-based D2D services are expected to begin in 2026, followed by voice connectivity across Europe in 2027.
The company previously raised €13 million in a Series A funding round in 2022, co-led by the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco and investment fund 5G Ventures. In 2024, it secured €30 million in Series B financing, including €15 million from the Luxembourg Space Sector Development program, which is co-run with satellite operator SES.
SES has also invested in U.S.-based D2D satellite ventures Lynk Global and Omnispace as companies race to develop direct-to-device connectivity services. Meanwhile, competitors including SpaceX and Amazon Kuiper are also expanding efforts in the emerging market.
