Starcloud

Starcloud

Orbital data centers powering AI workloads

Overview

Starcloud builds megawatt-scale data centers in low Earth orbit and leases GPU compute, storage, and data processing capacity to customers. Satellites carry large GPU clusters and storage, with power from onboard solar panels and cooling in vacuum; customers access resources over the network and pay by usage. Unlike terrestrial cloud providers, Starcloud avoids land, water, and permitting bottlenecks by operating in orbit, and benefits from space-based energy and cooling to reduce costs and emissions. Its goal is to extend digital compute beyond Earth’s surface, enabling scalable, sustainable AI workloads through orbital data centers.

YC Company

About Starcloud

Simplify's Rating
Why Starcloud is rated
D+
Rated D+ on Competitive Edge
Rated C on Growth Potential
Rated D+ on Differentiation

Industries

Data & Analytics

Energy

Enterprise Software

Aerospace

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$194M

Headquarters

Redmond, Washington

Founded

2024

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Starcloud raised $170 million at $1.1 billion in March 2026.
  • SpaceX ordered 50-plus Starlink Mini Lasers for Starcloud satellites in May 2026.
  • Early customer Crusoe anchors Starcloud-2's first commercial workloads in October 2026.

What critics are saying

  • FCC commenters urged denial or deferral of Starcloud's 88,000-satellite application in April 2026.
  • SpaceX filed for one million orbital data-center satellites, crushing Starcloud's moat.
  • Thermal management and debris risk escalate brutally as Starcloud scales beyond one prototype.

What makes Starcloud unique

  • First H100 ran in orbit on Starcloud-1 in November 2025.
  • Starcloud-2 adds AWS Outposts, Blackwell, and Starlink Mini Lasers in 2026.
  • Benchmark, Nvidia, and In-Q-Tel validate defense-grade and hyperscale ambition.

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Funding

Total Funding

$194M

Above

Industry Average

Funded Over

6 Rounds

Series A funding typically happens when a startup has a product and some customers, and now needs funding to scale. This money is usually used to grow the team, expand marketing, and improve the product. Venture capital firms are frequently the main investors here.
Series A Funding Comparison
Above Average

Industry standards

$15M
$8.2M
Discord
$15M
Canva
$30M
Kalshi
$170M
Starcloud

Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

401(k) Company Match

Paid Vacation

Paid Sick Leave

Paid Parental Leave

Stock Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

-27%

2 year growth

-32%
Yahoo Finance
Jun 17th, 2026
Startups race to build orbital data centers, Starcloud raises $170M and puts GPU in space

Starcloud, a Redmond startup that went through Y Combinator in summer 2024, has raised $170 million in a Series A at a $1.1 billion valuation. The company became the first to run an Nvidia H100 GPU in orbit in November 2025, launching its 60-kilogram Starcloud-1 satellite. The company has filed with the FCC for an 88,000-satellite constellation and plans its next launch for October 2026, carrying multiple H100 chips and Nvidia's Blackwell hardware. CEO Philip Johnston positions Starcloud as infrastructure rather than cloud computing, initially targeting military and government customers before expanding to major cloud providers. Competition is intensifying, with Google planning prototype satellites by 2027, SpaceX filing for up to one million satellites, and Blue Origin developing gigawatt-scale orbital facilities.

X Corp.
Jun 4th, 2026
Starcloud becomes fastest YC company to hit $1B valuation post-Demo Day — 17 months

YC CEO Garry Tan reports Starcloud (formerly Lumen Orbit) has reached a $1B valuation just 17 months after Demo Day, making it the fastest YC company ever to achieve this milestone. The company builds data centers in orbit.

Business Wire
May 26th, 2026
Starcloud signs SpaceX deal to integrate 50+ Starlink Mini Lasers into orbital data center constellation

Starcloud has signed a contract with SpaceX's Starlink to integrate mini laser terminals across its orbital data center constellation. The deal covers over 50 Starlink Mini Lasers across more than 25 satellites, with the first hardware expected on orbit within one year. Each Starcloud satellite will carry two Starlink Mini Laser terminals, providing up to 25 Gbps of continuous intersatellite connectivity at distances up to 4,000 kilometres. The optical links eliminate the need for bandwidth-constrained ground stations by enabling direct communication between Starcloud satellites and the Starlink constellation. Starcloud launched its first satellite in November 2025, featuring the first NVIDIA H100 GPU on orbit. In March 2026, the company raised $170 million in a Series A round at a $1.1 billion valuation led by Benchmark.

SiliconANGLE Media
Apr 14th, 2026
Orbital raises a16z funding to test space-based AI data centers in orbit by 2027

Orbital, a startup building space-based AI data centres, has raised an undisclosed amount in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz's a16z Speedrun. The company plans to launch its first test mission, Orbital-1, in April 2027 to demonstrate proof-of-concept for orbital AI infrastructure. Orbital aims to address AI's energy crisis by deploying satellites in sun-synchronous orbits 1,200 miles above Earth, running entirely on continuous solar power whilst using radiative cooling to dissipate heat. Each satellite will house Nvidia-powered GPU clusters designed for AI inference workloads, with latency comparable to terrestrial fibre connections at 20 to 40 milliseconds. The company is opening Factory-1, a research facility in Los Angeles, to manufacture its compute satellites. Rather than attempting repairs in orbit, Orbital will replace satellites at end-of-life with controlled deorbit and burn-up on reentry.

Reuters
Mar 30th, 2026
Starcloud reaches $1.1 billion valuation as AI space race heats up

Orbital compute infrastructure startup Starcloud has raised $170 million at a $1.1 billion ‌valuation, as companies including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin race to move power-hungry AI data centers off-planet.

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