Hubble Network Inc. is doing something nobody expected was possible by connecting Bluetooth to satellites, and today announced it has raised $200 million in a Series C round to build out the capability.
With Hubble’s product, any device with a Bluetooth LE, or Low Energy, radio can connect to satellites orbiting kilometers above.
Unlike classic Bluetooth, LE can transmit data at a fraction of the power using small bursts, letting small devices run for months, or even years, on a single coin-cell battery. It also runs on the same 2.4 gigahertz frequency as Wi-Fi, typically with a range of 100 meters.
Hubble is building a constellation of 60 low-Earth orbit satellites that can interact with a ground-based network to monitor objects embedded with Bluetooth chips, including packages, vehicles and pharmaceuticals.
The satellite is on track to go online by 2030 and will work alongside 100 million gateways on the ground across 170 countries and more than 3 million square miles.
“When we said we’d connect Bluetooth chips to satellites, most of the industry said the physics wouldn’t allow it,” said co-founder and Chief Executive Alex Haro. “Today we’re turning that early skepticism into a global opportunity.”
Smith Point Capital led the round, with participation from Seraphim, Carthona Capital, Earthshot Ventures, Y Combinator and RPM Ventures. Today’s funding brings the company’s total raised to $300 million at a $1.6 billion valuation, one year after its $70 million Series B.
The technology turns any Bluetooth LE radio already inside a device into global connectivity for location and sensor data. That means a package can send its location and a small amount of data wherever it goes, such as temperature and pressure readings.
The company said its newest design adds under 50 cents to the total materials, roughly a 10th of the cost of a cellular modem and a 15th of a satellite modem’s cost. Until the advent of this technology, tracking any individual box or device ended at the pallet and was extremely costly, sometimes on average $25 or more per device, meaning only the most valuable commodity or bulk shipment gets tracked.
Hubble said over the past year, it partnered with Texas Instruments Inc. to send location and sensor data without the need for gateways, GPS or cellular. The company also partnered with InPlay Inc. to pair a sub-$1 chip with Hubble’s gateways for item-level tracking at RFID tag scale and with Reelables Inc. to print active wireless smart labels for cargo.
