Boeing's VC arm backs satellite tech startup

Boeing’s HorizonX venture capital arm has continued its investment push in the space and satellite services arena through a new backing of London-based startup Isotropic Systems, which maintains a U.S. headquarters in Linthicum, Maryland.

Terms of HorizonX Ventures’ investment were undisclosed, but Isotropic said in a release Wednesday that it raised $14 million in a “Series A” funding round the Boeing group led. Other investors included WML, Space Angels and Space Capital.

Isotropic was founded in 2013 by CEO John Finney, one of the founders of O3b Networks, and builds user terminals that use optical beam steering techniques to link with several satellites at once. The company is looking to enable broadband connections at scale without concern for costs and help meet growing demand for satellite data and mobility in remote locations.

Like other blue chip aerospace-and-defense companies, Boeing is using its HorizonX investment arm to make an aggressive push to find companies with emerging satellite and space technologies viewed as disruptive to both industry and the market.

HorizonX itself has within the past year backed ground station builder BridgeSat and nanosatellite technology company Myriota.

At the corporate level, Boeing acquired small satellite maker Millennium Space Systems last year as an avenue to grow in the so-called “smallsat” market as all government agencies increasingly seek cheaper and faster alternatives to access space.