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European Spacetech Startup Marble Imaging Raises €5.3M to Challenge Dominance of US Earth Observation Firms

Bremen, Germany - Marble Imaging, a rising star in Europe's burgeoning spacetech sector, has secured €5.3 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round to accelerate the development of its constellation of very-high-resolution Earth observation satellites.

The round, led by German venture capital firm High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), underscores the surging European demand for sovereign Earth observation (EO) capabilities that can rival the dominance of US providers like Planet Labs and Maxar Technologies.

Marble Imaging, founded just last year, is building a fleet of satellites that can deliver hourly, ultra-high-resolution imagery and analytics to support critical applications ranging from defense and security to climate monitoring and infrastructure planning.

"Marble Imaging is addressing a critical European capability gap in the very high resolution domain, and I'm excited to support their mission to become the leading provider of sovereign EO data and insights for the continent," said Antje Schulz, Investment Manager at HTGF.

In addition to HTGF, the funding round included participation from a consortium of Bremen-based investors such as BAB Beteiligungs- und Managementgesellschaft Bremen mbH (BBM), Lightfield Equity, and nwk | nwu Beteiligungsgesellschaften der Sparkasse Bremen.

The fresh capital will enable Marble Imaging to grow its engineering team, expand its data infrastructure, and accelerate the development of its satellite constellation - a crucial step in reducing Europe's reliance on American EO providers.

"The demand for strong and innovative sovereign solutions from Europe now runs through nearly all major institutions," said Marble Imaging CEO Cate Lawrence. "Nowhere is this more evident than in the fields of security and climate tech, where the need for timely, very high-resolution Earth Observation data and advanced AI-powered analytics has become immense."

Marble Imaging already offers a range of data analysis services, including object detection for situational intelligence, terrain analytics, coastal asset monitoring, and land cover classification. The company has also secured a €3 million anchor contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).

The successful seed round comes on the heels of more than €10 million in non-dilutive funding for Marble Imaging, underscoring the growing investor appetite for European alternatives to US-dominated EO providers. As geopolitical tensions continue to rise, the ability to independently monitor global events and environmental changes has become a strategic imperative for the European Union.