Golbriak Space Raises €4M to Scale Laser Communications for Satellites

Golbriak Space, an Estonian spacetech company developing laser communication systems, has raised €4 million in seed funding to expand production and prepare for large-scale deployments across satellite constellations and airborne platforms.

The round was co-led by Join Capital and PhotonVentures, with participation from Takeoff, the aerospace and advanced hardware acceleration programme within the CDP Venture Capital National Accelerator Network and managed by Plug and Play.

The investment was made into Golbriak Space's Italian holding company, Iribits S.r.l., and will support the development and industrialisation of its Estonian operating subsidiary, Golbriak Space OÜ.

The funding comes as Golbriak enters advanced commercial negotiations for programmes that could involve several thousand optical communication terminals.

Making Laser Communications Easier to Deploy

Laser communications use optical links to transmit large amounts of data without relying on radio-frequency spectrum.

That matters as satellite networks become larger and increasingly interconnected.

Satellite constellations can generate enormous quantities of data, creating growing demand for high-capacity communication links. Optical systems can provide an alternative to increasingly congested radio-frequency communications.

Laser beams are also highly directional, which makes them considerably harder to intercept or disrupt compared with conventional radio communications.

The challenge has been making optical communication terminals practical to manufacture, integrate and operate at large scale.

Golbriak is targeting that problem.

Reducing Integration Complexity

Golbriak develops laser communication systems for both space and airborne applications.

Its technology is designed to reduce the integration complexity involved in installing optical terminals on satellites, drones, aircraft and other platforms.

The company's terminals are designed to reduce their dependence on the pointing capabilities of the host platform.

That can make integration easier and allow multiple terminals to operate on the same spacecraft or aircraft.

Golbriak develops the optical, electronic, mechanical and software components of its systems internally.

The company says this control over the entire communications chain allows it to optimise performance, integration, manufacturability and quality as production volumes increase.

Two Product Families

Golbriak is currently scaling two main product families.

ERMESAI+ is designed for space applications, while ARES is designed for airborne platforms.

Both products use a common software-defined architecture.

The architecture is intended to make high-capacity optical communications easier to integrate and operate across different platforms, networks and missions.

That common approach could also help the company scale manufacturing as customers move from individual demonstrations toward larger deployments.

Moving Toward Constellation-Scale Demand

Golbriak says it is in advanced negotiations for programmes collectively involving several thousand systems.

The scale of those potential programmes represents a major step beyond individual satellite deployments.

Large constellations can require hundreds or even thousands of terminals, creating a significant manufacturing challenge for optical communications companies.

Golbriak is using the new capital to increase production capacity and industrialise its technology in preparation for that demand.

The company says customer-funded deployments across multiple commercial space programmes are expected to expand its operational footprint from 2027.

Additional ARES systems are also being prepared for airborne applications.

Experienced Investors Back the Company

Join Capital and PhotonVentures co-led the round.

Join Capital focuses on deeptech and industrial technology investments, while PhotonVentures focuses on photonics and related technologies.

Takeoff also participated in the round. The programme is part of the CDP Venture Capital National Accelerator Network and supports aerospace and advanced hardware startups.

Join Capital founding partner Jan Borgstädt said Golbriak already has functioning technology, paying customers and demand from operators planning future satellite networks.

PhotonVentures co-founder and general partner Pieter Klinkert highlighted the company's combination of photonics technology and scalable architecture.

From Research to Commercial Deployment

Golbriak was founded by Nicola Garzaniti, who serves as founder and CEO.

The company says years of specialised engineering and customer validation have helped it address the practical challenges involved in deploying laser communications at scale.

The latest funding marks a shift from developing and validating the technology toward increasing manufacturing capacity.

That transition is particularly important in the satellite communications market, where winning a large constellation programme can require a supplier to produce hundreds or thousands of systems reliably.

Golbriak's upcoming deployments could provide an important test of whether its architecture can deliver that level of scale.

If the company converts its current negotiations into large commercial programmes, it could move from being a specialist optical communications developer to a larger supplier for the next generation of satellite networks.