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Swiss satellite maker SWISSto12 secures $70M Series C for multiorbit push. July 16, 2026 * SWISSto12 raised $70 million in a Series C round just days after securing $84.8 million from ESA member states, bringing together private and government funding simultaneously. * The Renens-based satellite company reached positive EBITDA in 2026, earned $140 million in revenue in 2025, and has grown at a 110% annual rate since 2022. This level of profitability is unusual for a space hardware startup at this point. * The company now has over $500 million in signed contracts, seven HummingSat GEO deals with operators like SES and Viasat, and more than 2,000 HummingLink payloads already in orbit. Most space hardware startups raise money because they are losing money, but SWISSto12 raised $70 million in a Series C round while staying profitable. The company did not name the individual investors or disclose its post-money valuation, but confirmed that both new and returning investors participated. The Renens-based satellite and payload maker confirmed it reached positive EBITDA in 2026, had $140 million in revenue in 2025, and grew at a 110% annual rate since 2022. SWISSto12 was founded in 2011 as a spin-off from Switzerland's EPFL by Emile de Rijk. It is headquartered in Renens near Lausanne, with additional offices in the US and EMEA. The company employs approximately 224 people. What SWISSto12 builds. SWISSto12 has two main products: HummingSat, a small geostationary satellite that is about one-tenth the size of regular GEO satellites, and HummingLink, which are multi-orbit payloads and antennas placed on other companies' satellites in LEO, MEO, and GEO. Both products use the company's patented 3D-printing process for RF hardware, making them lighter and faster to produce than traditional parts. For example, a HummingSat can be launched alongside a bigger satellite, so operators can add regional capacity without needing a full satellite bus. This strategy has appealed to established operators instead of trying to replace them. SWISSto12 has signed seven HummingSat contracts, including deals with SES and Viasat, which are markets usually dominated by big companies like Boeing, Airbus, or Thales Alenia Space. The closest direct competitor is Astranis, a US company that makes similar small GEO satellites and has raised about $1.2 billion so far, including a $300 million Series E and a $155 million debt round. Astranis mainly works with US government and defence contracts, while SWISSto12 focuses on commercial telecom operators and European government programs. This makes SWISSto12 more similar to its Finnish competitor, ReOrbit, which also targets European government and defence markets. A sovereign and private capital combination. The Series C round came after SWISSto12 recently received $84.8 million from ESA member states, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway, and Canada, through the HummingSat ARTES partnership project. Together, these two rounds brought in over $150 million in new capital in just one month. This pattern, with government support followed soon after by a private funding round, is also seen elsewhere in the European space sector. For example, ICEYE is seeking a valuation above €2.4 billion as demand for satellite intelligence grows. The new funding will help the company increase its manufacturing and integration capacity to keep up with rising demand from both commercial and government customers. This includes HummingLink's multi-orbit payloads and the HummingSat line. Over 2,000 HummingLink units are already in use on missions in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Fredrik Gustavsson, SWISSto12's chief financial and strategy officer, says, "The financial picture at SWISSto12 is robust and primed for global growth. $140 million in revenue for 2025, more than $500 million in customer contracts, and a 110% compound annual growth rate since 2022. These are the signals of an agile business, deploying capital efficiently, and operating at scale in a fast-growing industry. This Series C accelerates us further to meet strong demand from a space, satellite and telecommunications market that's evolving and growing at pace." De Rijk emphasises the breadth of the company's offerings: "In this expanding market, our solutions across payload and satellite lines are creating significant new opportunities for customers. Our products are supporting exciting new customer missions - from direct-to-device connectivity to media broadcasting, intersatellite data relays or sovereign communications infrastructure - many of which span multiple orbits." Why the market matters. The multi-orbit satellite communications market that SWISSto12 is targeting was worth $7.8 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to $31.6 billion by 2035, with a 14.8% annual growth rate. Most of this growth comes from government and defence buyers who want reliable communications that do not depend on just one orbit or operator. It is still unclear if offering any payload, any platform, any orbit gives SWISSto12 a real edge or is just a way to cover its bases. GEO order volumes have dropped across the industry as LEO constellations take over more broadband and maritime contracts. SWISSto12 is working on both the shrinking GEO replacement market and the growing multi-orbit defence market. In the end, whether this two-pronged approach beats better-funded, defence-focused rivals like Astranis may matter more than the fundraising itself.

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