The funding was spearheaded by Altos Ventures, with additional contributions from New Legacy Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Catapult Ventures, Lavrock Ventures, New Stack Ventures, TenOneTen, DA Ventures (a Denver Angels affiliate), Union Labs VC, and Techstars.
"As a fund, we seek out dedicated founding teams with unique insights that others may overlook," said Anthony Lee, Managing Director at Altos Ventures. "Urban Sky represents an industry-defining opportunity with the potential to build a transformative, enduring company. We are eager to collaborate with them to fully leverage the potential of the stratosphere."
Urban Sky's portfolio already includes some of the most sophisticated high-altitude balloons, specialized payloads, AI-enhanced flight control systems, and predictive modeling technologies. These innovations enable precise and persistent aerial monitoring over extensive areas for commercial applications, such as real-time wildfire detection. Additionally, the same technology grants U.S. and allied defense forces a novel, rapidly deployable alternative to traditional satellites, offering extended surveillance, communication, and intelligence-gathering capabilities. Looking ahead, Urban Sky aims to develop a groundbreaking global network of long-duration, persistent stratospheric balloons for applications in search and rescue, environmental analysis, and disaster response.
Since its inception in 2019, Urban Sky has successfully commercialized its signature stratospheric Microballoon (mHAB). This compact, rapidly deployable, and navigable high-altitude balloon can sustain operations above 60,000 feet for days, revolutionizing access to the stratosphere-an underutilized region between conventional aircraft and satellites with vast potential for defense and commercial innovation.
"Our team has already made significant strides in making the stratosphere more accessible, revealing its immense value," said Andrew Antonio, CEO and co-founder of Urban Sky. "This latest funding will accelerate the expansion of our technology and product lineup, ensuring even greater benefits for our customers and their critical missions."
Urban Sky is currently supporting a diverse range of commercial, governmental, and defense clients, including NASA, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, the oil and gas sector, and wildfire monitoring agencies.
"We remain confident that Urban Sky is pioneering a transformative industry segment, backed by an exceptional founding team," said Alex Wong, Partner at New Legacy Ventures and Urban Sky Board Member. "This Series B financing is poised to dramatically expand the volume of valuable data and insights derived from the stratosphere, reinforcing Urban Sky's leadership in the field."
Among its latest advancements, the company's "Hot Spot" system, developed in collaboration with NASA and the U.S. Air Force, leverages a long-wave infrared (LWIR) imaging payload with satellite connectivity to provide real-time, high-resolution wildfire tracking. This month, the system was successfully deployed over the Palisades Fire in California, demonstrating an ability to generate heat maps with infrared resolution 100 times finer than existing satellite sources such as MODIS and VIIRS.
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