HEO raises $26.4M Series B

Beaten Zone Venture Partners led the round, and Australia's National Reconstruction Fund Corporation contributed A$10M of it. Other backers include Airtree, Salus Ventures, Dcode Capital, Ten13, UNSW and a group of angels that includes SpaceX alumni. Valuation was not disclosed. The company has booked its first two launches into geostationary orbit, starting later this year, and plans regular imaging coverage in 2027. Founder William Crowe told Forbes Australia that the company holds a five-year contract worth more than US$100M, along with a separate multi-year, seven-figure deal. Customers include Australia's Department of Defence, Japan's Ministry of Defense and the US National Reconnaissance Office. Staff numbers are expected to rise from 36 to 85 by 2028. The previous round was a 2023 Series A led by Airtree. For founders, the deal shows where specialist AI and sensing money is going. HEO sells imagery, plus software that plans shots and analyses results, to governments. It sells through a mix of owned cameras and access to cameras on partners' satellites, which keeps hardware spend down. Defence buyers are also paying for analytics on top of data. Government-anchored contracts, plus a sovereign fund as co-investor, gave this company a funding path that does not rely on the broader AI market.