LiveEO secures €28 million for its satellite infrastructure for civil applications.

      The Berlin-based geospatial-AI company has successfully completed the first tranche of a new funding round, with defence venture capital firm Helantic joining Nordic Ninja, MMC, and the EIC as investors. Most of the funds will support the same product, while the strategic change involves who else can purchase it.

      In 2026, European defence-tech funding rounds are no longer focused purely on a defence narrative. On Tuesday, LiveEO announced a €28 million first close for its upcoming funding round, with Helantic and the European Innovation Council (EIC) participating as new investors alongside b2ventures.

      The current investor roster, which includes Nordic Ninja, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Matterwave Ventures, MMC Ventures, Segenia Capital, and Greencode Ventures, primarily mirrors the group that backed the company’s €25 million Series B in June 2024, aimed at managing climate risks and critical infrastructure.

      The changes are reflected in the cap table, while the product itself remains the same as per LiveEO’s positioning. The strategic shift pertains to the new buyer market.

      Founded in Berlin in 2018 by Daniel Seidel and Sven Przywarra, LiveEO emerged from the realization that there was an unmet need between the accessibility of satellite data and its practical application in industrial contexts. Seidel studied aeronautical engineering and astronautics at RWTH Aachen, and Przywarra studied industrial engineering and management at TU Berlin. They met at an aerospace trade show and subsequently dedicated eight years to developing a platform to bridge this gap.

      The company has three main products: TradeAware (compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation), Treeline (vegetation management for utilities and railway operators), and SurfaceScout (pipeline monitoring for the oil and gas sector).

      LiveEO's customer base has expanded significantly and now includes utilities, rail operators, and pipeline networks across five continents. The firm has maintained an enterprise-focused commercial model: long-term monitoring agreements, integration with existing operator processes via APIs, and AI-driven prioritization of risks for direct use in inspection and maintenance planning.

      Earlier this year, LiveEO launched its satellite constellation, Twinspector, aimed at imaging infrastructure corridors (the elongated areas that power lines, railways, and pipelines use) at a resolution of up to 35 cm in 3D stereo. Reflex Aerospace was chosen to develop the satellite platforms, and in April 2026, the European Space Agency’s InCubed programme awarded LiveEO a significant contract for this constellation.

      Two key aspects arise from this strategic announcement. The first is clear: the company has obtained fresh growth capital from a knowledgeable deeptech-and-climate investiture group, with the European Innovation Council providing institutional EU endorsement. The prior €25 million round was specifically raised for applications related to civil infrastructure and climate risk. The latest €28 million first close represents a modest step forward in scale.

      The second aspect, which sheds light on the cap table, is that Helantic, the primary new institutional investor, is a venture fund focused on defence. LiveEO’s press release explicitly states the rationale: “The same satellite and AI infrastructure that has already been validated in civil use applications is directly relevant to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), infrastructure protection, and situational awareness.”

      This statement signifies a strategic shift for a company originally established to monitor utility vegetation. LiveEO is now aligning itself within a broader category alongside other players like Helsing, which is recognized as Europe’s largest defence-AI operator, but from a geospatial data perspective instead of autonomous systems.

      Currently, LiveEO stands out as one of the most strategically positioned European Earth observation companies in 2026, with a cap table that reflects the merging interests of civil infrastructure, climate, and defence investors, along with a product roadmap that spans satellite manufacturing, AI orchestration, and enterprise inspection routing.

      The €28 million first close marks an entry point into a new phase, rather than the conclusion of the funding round. The developments in the coming months will reveal whether the dual-use concept becomes a foundational model for European deeptech or remains a strategic positioning that falters when faced with procurement challenges.