Herndon, VA, Feb. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced today that CIT GAP Funds has invested in Arlington, VA-based NOVI, developer of the next generation of hardware and data analytics platforms for the emerging new space industry. Founded in 2017, NOVI offers highly-integrated hardware that reduces the size of spacecraft required to place a payload into orbit and slashes the amount of capital needed for deployments. NOVI will use this infusion of capital from CIT GAP Funds to scale business and sales operations, and expand the development of their data analytics capabilities with increased engineering power.
“We are entering a crowded space that has several existing manufacturers of small satellite components and providers of data analytics services, but with the support of CIT GAP Funds we will be able to illustrate the benefits of integrated architectures to the industry,” said Dr. Amit Mehra, Partner at NOVI, LLC. “There is also a lot of great talent here that will allow us to bring the excitement and economic benefits of the new space industry to Virginia. We are grateful for CIT’s support and for access to their network of resources.”
Hundreds of low earth orbit (LEO) constellations will be launched in the near future for the purposes of earth imaging and remote sensing, IoT, weather forecasting, high bandwidth connectivity, and a host of other use cases. However, the industry is currently split between a number of low-cost commodity component suppliers, and big contractors providing high-performance, custom satellites that cost millions of dollars. This is not unlike the dated 1980’s model of companies selling individual motherboards, screen, hard drives, and other components to computer hobbyists instead of the fully designed laptop most people purchase today. NOVI is bridging this gap by offering integrated solutions to generate space-based data and information of interest in a rapid and cost-effective manner.
The founding members of NOVI have deep domain expertise and technical knowhow in the field of spacecraft design, manufacturing, launch and operations, as well as related data analytics of geospatial imagery. All of the product design elements and any associated IP is cleanly owned by NOVI. Their target customers include commercial players developing constellations of small satellites to replace large and expensive legacy systems that will benefit from dramatic reductions in the size, weight and cost of consumer electronics components, as well as the Air Force and government agencies seeking utility of resilient and disaggregated spacecraft to counter the vulnerability of existing architecture to attack by increasingly sophisticated adversaries.
“NOVI was founded by Caltech and MIT graduates with a proven track record of success and 35 years of aerospace experience, and they are already backed by government funding and strategic investments from a large defense contractor,” said Marco Rubin, Senior Investment Director and Manager of the GAP Tech and Commonwealth Energy Funds. “This team is well positioned to disrupt the rapidly growing space industry, and CIT is proud to be part of innovations that will have a large impact on the future of space activity.”
CIT GAP Funds, a family of funds placing equity investments in Virginia-based technology, life science, and cleantech companies, has invested in over 200 high-potential, early-stage companies likely to achieve rapid growth and generate significant economic return. Since it’s 2005 formation, CIT GAP Funds has infused an additional $600M+ of private placements onto the balance sheets of portfolio companies. Funds have come from over 900 different investment sources, with 80 percent including out-of-state and blue-chip funding sources from across the U.S. For more information, please visit https://www.cit.org/.
About NOVI, LLC
NOVI is developing the next generation of integrated hardware and data analytics platforms for an emerging new space industry that is aiming to launch hundreds of low earth orbit (LEO) constellations for earth imaging and remote sensing, IoT, weather forecasting, high bandwidth connectivity, and a host of other use-cases. For more information, please visit https://novillc.com/
About CIT GAP Funds
CIT GAP Funds makes seed-stage equity investments in Virginia-based technology, clean tech and life science companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors and the Commonwealth of Virginia. CIT GAP Funds’ investments are overseen by the CIT GAP Funds Investment Advisory Board (IAB). This independent, third-party panel consists of leading regional entrepreneurs, angel and strategic investors, and venture capital firms such as New Enterprise Associates, Grotech Ventures, Valhalla Partners, Harbert Venture Partners HIG Ventures, Edison Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Intersouth Partners, SJF Ventures, Carilion Health Systems, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Alpha Natural Resources. For more information, please visit www.citgapfunds.org.