The internet-driven, London-based startup of the aerospace and satellite sector, OneWeb, announced the procurement of a sum amounting to US $400 million in a venture round led by Softbank. The round was announced on January 15, 2021 and is majorly targeted at funding the first satellite fleet of OneWeb Ltd. Another key participant in the investment is the US telecoms group, Hughes Network Systems. Having been through some difficult times in the past year, it’s a big surprise that the broadband satellite startup is so quickly back on its feet.
This investment brings the total proceeds of OneWeb’s venture round to US $1.4 billion, an amount that would finally get the startup’s first generation fleet of 648 satellites launched by the end of 2022. CEO of OneWeb, Neil Masterson said in a statement, “OneWeb’s goal is to connect everyone, everywhere. Rapid changes have been made to re-start the business since emerging from Chapter 11 (bankruptcy and reorganization) in November. We appreciate the investments by SoftBank and Hughes as more proof of progress towards achieving our objective.”
OneWeb is an internet satellite startup specializing in the development of a space-based global communications network that offers low latency, high-speed internet access. By accomplishing the above, OneWeb is guaranteed to deliver connectivity to the global market. Due to the momentum of its services, the startup will provide mobility solutions to industries that rely heavily on global connectivity like maritime, automotive trains, aviation and more.
The internet company filed for bankruptcy early last year but was able to survive and bounce back even stronger thanks to rescue finances from the UK government and Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal. In light of this occurrence, OneWeb decided to significantly scale down their constellation plans from 47,884 to 6,372 satellites.
Softbank and Hughes are both past partners and investors of the internet startup. Their participation in this round is therefore something of an insurance policy carried out to ensure that their previous investments are not completely wasted. According to Mittal, “We are thrilled to welcome funding from SoftBank and Hughes. They are both deeply familiar with our organization; share our vision for the future and their dedication allows us to capitalize on the massive growth opportunity ahead for OneWeb. We gain insights from their experience and capabilities as we deliver a peculiar Low Earth Orbits network for the world.”
Founded in the year 2012 by Greg Wyler, the internet startup has its headquarters at London, England UK. Although the company is not disclosing its valuation, total funding is speculated to be around US $4.5 billion to date. This is of course before the recapitalization and revaluation of the startup brought about by the recent bankruptcy. All these are meant to be tools used in accomplishing their ultimate goal of being a world-class internet company providing top-notch connectivity to the global market.
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