Neuraspace Raises €15.6M to Watch Europe's Skies
The Portuguese startup blends collision tracking with counterspace defense — and says safety and security are now the same problem.
By The space-quantum Desk
Neuraspace, the Portuguese space traffic management startup, announced 15.6 million euros ($18 million) in fresh funding on Aug. 5 to expand European space domain awareness and defense capabilities — a signal that orbital safety has quietly become a national-security matter. [1]
The round splits two ways: a six million euro Series B from venture capitalists — with Lince Capital, Explorer Investments and Armilar Venture Partners participating — and 9.6 million euros from Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan, an EU-backed national program created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, that will directly fund NeuraspaceDEF, an AI-powered, dual-use platform for government and defense users. [1]
The company currently monitors more than 600 satellites for customers including Spire Global and the European Space Agency, combining public catalogs, ground-based telescope partners and its own optical sensors. [1] Revenue has grown more than 350% over the past year, the company said, as low Earth orbit grows more congested. [1]
New proceeds are earmarked partly for radar sensors to complement existing optical telescopes — a multi-source data strategy that also reduces European dependence on U.S. systems. [1] NATO selected Neuraspace for the 2026 cohort of its Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, and the company says it has been chosen as prime contractor by a European defense ministry, with details due in September. [1]
The broader shift here is architectural: a generation of companies built to manage congestion are now being asked to detect adversaries. The two disciplines demand different sensors, different algorithms and, increasingly, different funding relationships.
With around 29 million euros raised since its 2020 founding, Neuraspace is positioning European sovereign awareness as a commercial product — one that collision risk alone could never have justified. [1]
Safety and security are no longer separate challenges — they are two sides of the same operational problem.Chiara Manfletti