The company, which connects ordinary Bluetooth chips to satellites, raised a $200 million Series C led by Smith Point Capital. It plans a constellation of 60 by 2030.
Hubble Network has six satellites in low Earth orbit. Its investors are paying for the next 54.
The startup raised $200 million in a Series C round led by Smith Point Capital, at a valuation of $1.6 billion. Seraphim, Carthona Capital, Earthshot Ventures, Y Combinator and RPM Ventures also took part. The round brings Hubble's total funding to $300 million, and the money will go toward expanding its constellation and lowering the cost of its service.
The pitch is that satellite connectivity no longer needs special hardware. Hubble's network lets devices with standard Bluetooth Low Energy radios, the chips already built into trackers, sensors and wearables, send location and sensor data to satellites after a firmware update and a software kit integration. No new modem is required, and the company says connectivity costs less than 50 cents a device.
"When we said we'd connect Bluetooth chips to satellites, most of the industry said the physics wouldn't allow it," Chief Executive Alex Haro said.
The company says more than 500,000 devices are now active on its network, 10 times as many as a year earlier, supported by more than 100 million ground gateways across 170 countries. Its target is 60 satellites by 2030.
Customers see the appeal in coverage gaps. "Hubble gives us a way to extend visibility beyond the reach of traditional networks without adding new hardware," said David Gal of Samsara, a customer. Keith Block, chief executive of Smith Point, said Hubble has "built the foundational infrastructure that the physical world is missing."
The valuation is a bet on the gap between today and 2030. At $1.6 billion, investors are pricing Hubble at more than five times the capital it has raised, with a tenth of the planned constellation in place.
The measurable milestones are near term. Launch cadence over the next year will show whether the 60-satellite plan is on track, and the active device count will show whether a price below 50 cents a device is enough to turn a 10-fold jump into a steady climb.