Scaleup Europe Fund co-leads ICEYE’s €1bn Series F round

EQT today announced that the Scaleup Europe Fund has completed its first investment by co-leading Espoo-based SpaceTech company ICEYE’s recently announced €1 billion Series F funding round. The funding round included €450 million of primary investment at a valuation exceeding €10 billion. In May 2026, ICEYE announced that it has secured a €300 million 3-year committed revolving credit facility (RCF). The Scaleup Europe Fund was established by the European Commission alongside a group of European investors and managed by EQT.  Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said, “When Europe invests in its innovators, Europe invests in its future. This is the goal of our Scaleup Europe Fund: it will ensure our scale-ups can find what they need right here in Europe to grow into world-leading companies. To turn European innovation into our competitive edge.” Founded in 2015, ICEYE delivers persistent monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes in any location on Earth. It owns the world’s largest and most advanced SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation.  It delivers high-quality intelligence to its customers with low latency and quick revisit times, regardless of weather or time of day. For governments operating the company’s own constellations, it offers this capability as a sovereign system. ICEYE-built constellations serve customers in defence and intelligence, environmental monitoring, insurance and emergency management. “Europe has the talent, technology and ambition to build globally leading companies in strategically important industries. Our own journey reflects that. My co-founder Pekka Laurila and I met as students on an Erasmus exchange, received our first funding through Horizon 2020, and we are grateful for the European Commission’s role in initiating the Scaleup Europe Fund. We are pleased to welcome EQT as a long-term partner through the fund, as we continue to expand our sovereign intelligence capabilities from Europe for customers across Europe and globally,” said Rafał Modrzewski, co-founder and CEO, ICEYE. Today’s Series F follows a period of significant momentum for ICEYE. In 2025, ICEYE crossed over €250 million in revenue, and over €100 million in EBITDA, with a contracted backlog of over €1.5 billion. The company has built a strong European footprint, with significant operations in Finland, Poland, Spain and Greece, and has recently expanded further with the establishment of new European entities in Germany and Portugal. This month, ICEYE strengthened its UAE presence with the appointment of Christos Kolimenakis as Chief Executive Officer of ICEYE UAE and last month, it announced the formal establishment of ICEYE’s German entity, based out of Berlin and Munich, and the appointment of Philipp Herkelmann as CEO of ICEYE Germany. In July, the company also revealed the establishment of ICEYE Portugal, the opening of a centre of excellence in Lisbon, and appointed Rui Costa as CEO of ICEYE Portugal. Last month, the SpaceTech firm also launched and deployed four new SAR satellites into orbit. Integrated via Exolaunch, the satellites lifted off on July 7, 2026, aboard the Transporter-17 rideshare mission with SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.  In June 2026, ICEYE announced that CTI Aeroespacial, a joint venture between the Portuguese Air Force and CEiiA, signed a contract to procure two additional synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite systems to be operated by the Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa, FAP).  In June, the company also announced the appointment of Eric Jensen as global Chief Operating Officer, and that Business Finland, Finland’s public innovation agency, had approved a €28.3 million continuation grant, the final tranche of a previously announced major R&D investment decision. In May 2026, the company officially handed over MikroSAR, Poland’s sovereign radar satellite reconnaissance system, to the Polish Armed Forces less than 12 months after contract signing. In March 2026, ICEYE launched and deployed six new 25 cm resolution SAR satellites into orbit. The satellites were integrated by Exolaunch and successfully launched on March 30, 2026, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-16 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA. ICEYE operates globally with over 1,000 employees. The Scaleup Europe Fund’s strategy included partnering with Europe’s most promising technology companies in sectors spanning artificial intelligence, quantum computing, dual-use technologies, clean energy, space technology, BioTech and medical innovation.  The fund was established to help address Europe’s long-standing growth capital gap by supporting companies developing strategically important technologies and enabling them to scale globally while remaining anchored in Europe. “Our first investment reflects exactly what the Scaleup Europe Fund was created to support: ambitious European founders building globally competitive companies in strategically important technologies. ICEYE has already established itself as a category leader, and we’re excited to partner with Rafał and the team as they continue scaling from Europe to the world,” commented Victor Englesson, Partner at EQT and co-Head of the Scaleup Europe Fund. 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