Finnish space startup ReOrbit just landed a record-breaking €45 million Series A round, positioning itself as Europe's answer to SpaceX's Starlink dominance. The Helsinki-based company is targeting nations seeking satellite sovereignty without the geopolitical strings attached to US or Chinese alternatives, capitalizing on growing demand for independent space infrastructure amid rising global tensions.
The space race just got a Nordic twist. ReOrbit landed Finland's largest Series A ever for a space company, raising €45 million to challenge Elon Musk's Starlink with what CEO Sethu Saveda Suvanam calls "sovereign satellites." The round signals Europe's growing ambition to break free from US and Chinese space monopolies.
The funding round tells its own story about European investor appetite. When ReOrbit opened an €8 million public share issue through Finnish platform Springvest on June 16, it filled completely in just 4.5 hours — the fastest share issue in the platform's history. The remaining €37 million came from Nordic institutional investors including Varma, Elo, and Icebreaker.vc, showcasing strong regional support for space independence.
"Finland is not a country that wants to be a superpower, and this is very important," Saveda Suvanam told TechCrunch. "Today, a lot of nations are stuck between China and the U.S. When we talk to the highest authorities of these nations, they always say, 'We are looking at Europe and the Nordics very keenly, because this is a time where we want to find neutral partners.'"
That neutrality pitch is working. ReOrbit has already signed "a full contract worth some hundreds of millions" with one nation and "multiple MOUs" with others, according to Saveda Suvanam. The company's value proposition centers on full satellite ownership and control for client nations, sourcing hardware from trusted suppliers and managing everything through ReOrbit's proprietary software layer.
The technical approach differentiates ReOrbit from Starlink's model. While SpaceX targets private users and enterprises with a service-based approach, ReOrbit offers complete sovereignty. The company's software core — which Saveda Suvanam likens to iOS — can drive both geostationary orbit satellite SiltaSat and low earth orbit satellite UkkoSat, providing flexibility crucial for defense and critical infrastructure applications.
