Space tech startup AIRMO announced that it has raised €5 million in a seed funding round, with proceeds for the financing aimed at launching the first satellite mission for its greenhouse gas monitoring system.
Founded in 2022 by rocket scientist Daria Stepanova, Berlin and Luxembourg-based AIRMO designs, builds, and operates tools to monitor methane emissions from the air and from space. According to AIRMO, in addition to expanding its current airborne coverage and driving international expansion, the new capital will allow the company to launch its first satellite mission in 2027, which the company said is more accurate and more affordable than current space-based methane monitoring solutions, combining a SWIR imager with micro-LIDAR to fit in a small satellite.
AIRMO said that its technology is twice as accurate as any existing system, with the ability to a methane leak the size of a car from 500 km in space.
Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, with as much as 80x the warming power of CO2. Methane leaks are present significant challenges for energy companies, costing the industry as much as $100 billion per year. AIRMO said that its technology is already being used in commercial operations on drones and planes for monitoring missions in Europe, Central Asia and MENA, with customers including Uniper, Total and ESCE utilizing the company’s system for energy infrastructure monitoring.
Stepanova said:
“AIRMO has a simple mission: to help operators find and stop greenhouse gas losses, starting with methane. We have developed this unique instrument to achieve this goal. With this funding, we are moving beyond validation into continuous monitoring that will solve this problem.”
The seed funding round was led by Ananda Impact Ventures, alongside Unconventional Ventures, kopa ventures, Desai Ventures, Hypernova / New Venture Securities and two EQT Partners, Matthias Fackler and Francesco Starache, acting as strategic investors. Antler, Findus Ventures, E2MC and Pilabs.
Alina Bassi, Principal at Ananda Impact Ventures, said:
“Methane leakage reduction is the most effective way to decarbonise the energy industry today. AIRMO’s ability to quantify GHG emissions from space with such high precision is a game-changer, finally solving a significant transparency problem for the energy sector. Having backed the team since inception, we are proud to continue supporting their journey as they move toward their first satellite launch.”
Alexis Burdick-Horowitz, Partner at Unconventional Ventures, added:
“At seed stage, we back founders who combine deep technical credibility with a clear view of the problem they are solving. Daria is a rare example of a female founder leading at the frontier of space technology, with the expertise and ambition to tackle one of the most urgent climate challenges. That unique combination of impact and commercial relevance is why we chose to back AIRMO early.”
