Hubble Network, a Seattle startup that beams Bluetooth signals to satellites, raised $200 million and crossed the $1.6 billion valuation mark.
The Series C round, first reported by GeekWire, makes the five-year-old company Seattle's newest unicorn. Keith Block, founder and CEO of Smith Point Capital, led the round, with Seraphim, Carthona Capital, Earthshot Ventures, Y Combinator and RPM Ventures participating. Total funding now stands at $300 million.
Most Bluetooth trackers stop working the moment they leave Wi-Fi or cellular range. Hubble's system lets standard Bluetooth Low Energy chips, the kind already inside package trackers, vehicles and pharmaceutical shipments, send signals directly to orbiting satellites. The upgrade is a software update, not new hardware.
CEO and co-founder Alex Haro said the company is turning early industry skepticism into a commercial opportunity. "When we said we'd connect Bluetooth chips to satellites, most of the industry said the physics wouldn't allow it," Haro said in the company's Sept. 23 announcement.
Haro previously co-founded location-sharing app Life360. Co-founder and CTO Ben Wild invented Amazon Sidewalk.
Hubble operates six satellites in low-Earth orbit and plans to grow to a 60-satellite constellation by 2030, built with satellite operator Muon Space. On the ground, the company says its terrestrial network spans more than 100 million gateways across 170 countries. More than 500,000 devices are active on the platform, a tenfold increase from a year ago, according to the company.
The cost structure is the competitive wedge. Hubble says its connectivity adds under 50 cents to a device's bill of materials, compared with $25 or more for dedicated satellite tracking hardware. Monthly subscriptions run about $4. Software firm Samsara is among the pilot customers already using the hybrid ground-and-satellite network.
The company employs about 70 people. It sits in a different lane from the region's other satellite ventures: SpaceX builds its Starlink fleet in Redmond, and Amazon runs its Kuiper satellite division out of Kirkland. Both focus on high-bandwidth internet. Hubble is chasing low-power tracking for everyday objects.
The next milestone is scaling from six satellites to 60. No intermediate launch dates have been announced.
