Israeli Nano Satellite Startup SkyFi Raises $3M To Deliver Universal Internet Access

February 28, 2016 | Israeli startup SkyFi (formerly known as NSL Comm) has raised $3 million in seed funding from Jerusalem Venture Partners and Liberty Israel Venture Fund, a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation. Founded by CEO Raz Itzhaki Tamir, COO Daniel Rockberger and CTO Danny Spirtus, Skyfi has developed a nano satellite with a flexible sub-reflector which will be used to provide Internet access from everywhere on the planet. The technology was unveiled at Microsoft’s ThinkNext event in Tel Aviv Thursday. The company said in its announcement, “Universal Internet access has been unfeasible due to current satellite technology, which makes satellites costly to launch, prone to operational error, and thus financially risky for those who send them into space. SkyFi’s innovation revolves around a flexible sub-reflector that compensates for any reflector shape imperfections. This does away with expensive, poor performing satellites by enabling a nano satellite to be sent into space with a 55cm diameter antenna folded up, greatly reducing launch load and costs. Once in orbit, the satellite’s antenna expands and the proprietary flexible sub-reflector enhances transmitting precision and power by as much as 500x. Putting 60 such satellites into space would bring Internet connectivity to the entire globe and would be less expensive than the current cost of putting one satellite into space. Such a constellation of satellites would enable 1 gigabit per second communication bandwidth from anywhere on the planet. Moreover, SkyFi’s technology allows satellite owners to change the pattern of coverage on Earth while a satellite is in orbit, something that has not been possible to date.” Members of the SkyFi team have filed over 20 patents combined, and have worked at Israeli Aerospace Industries, RaySat Broadcasting and Gilat Satellite Network, among others.