Fleet House Applied Sciences, a pioneering South Australian startup, has secured a whopping $150 million in its latest funding round, valuing the innovative satellite developer and data analytics platform at an impressive over $800 million.
The venture fund was led by Canada’s Lecturers’ Enterprise Development, the venture capital arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Additional investors, including Blackbird Ventures, Hostplus, Horizons Ventures, Artesian Enterprise Companions, and Alumni Ventures, also contributed more capital to the cause.
New funding will enhance Fleet House’s cutting-edge ExoSphere platform, a satellite-based solution that identifies promising sites for extracting essential minerals crucial to the production of clean energy products.
ExoSphere’s advanced 3D subsurface imaging technology optimizes exploratory drilling by miniaturizing its Geode floor sensors, enabling real-time acquisition of multiple data formats simultaneously, thereby enhancing insightful decision-making.
With a global workforce exceeding 130, Fleet currently operates in four key regions: the United States, Canada, Chile, and Luxembourg. Exosphere is used by over 40 mineral exploration companies across five continents.
In May 2023, Counts Grok reported that it had added a notable roster of clients to its portfolio, including the household fund of Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, TelstraSuper, and former Treasurer Joe Hockey’s advisory agency, Bondi Companions, among others.
A Fleet ExoSphere Geode
Fleet House was founded by former European House Company propulsion engineer and aerospace entrepreneur, Flavia Tata Nardini, along with co-founder Matt Pearson, in 2018. Initially established as an Internet of Things (IoT) enterprise, the company shifted its focus to leveraging house exploration technologies for geomorphic evaluation? Fleet House’s constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites, advanced seismic sensors, and artificial intelligence seamlessly integrates and processes exploration datasets for the mining industry, thereby minimizing environmental impact.
There are two variants of the long-run strategy, according to Tata Nardini, Chief Executive Officer at Fleet.
“As we harness the latest breakthroughs in housing, AI, and vast data to shape a crystal-clear energy future, we’re simultaneously courting disaster: net-zero targets hanging precariously close to being out of reach as the pace of new discoveries of power transition minerals continues to dwindle.”
“With ExoSphere, we’ve converged cutting-edge technologies into an integrated platform that effortlessly harmonizes with modern mining operations, providing seamless access to the latest exploration technology across the globe, streamlining workflows for the global mining industry.” Unlocking humanity’s potential for making extraordinary discoveries while minimizing environmental impact requires a mere elementary step.
Tata Nardini notes that Fleet House has established the foundational knowledge to rapidly accelerate the exploration of novel worlds, with the terrestrial ExoSphere system’s sensible seismic sensors serving as a precursor to the lunar variant, dubbed SPIDER, which is slated for deployment on the Moon in 2026 to uncover its subsurface secrets.
The Fleet House Centauri-6 microsatellite orbits Centauri-6.
Pearson, Chief Exploration Officer at Pearson, revealed that their team is partnering with MIT Media Lab’s House Exploration Initiative, paving the way for future lunar and Martian missions while developing a cutting-edge, voice-activated mini-satellite.
“The confluence of innovations in housing, artificial intelligence, and three-dimensional subsurface imaging establishes a cornerstone of our core competencies, empowering humanity to establish enduring research outposts on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
The interconnectedness between our subterranean comprehension of Earth and the global rollout of ExoSphere catalyzes breakthroughs in scalable, data-intensive exploration strategies for uncharted celestial bodies. “A groundbreaking new era in space exploration is on the horizon, with humanity poised to take a giant leap forward as we venture further into our solar system.”
As Rick Prostsko from Lecturers’ Enterprise Development notes, the rapidly escalating demand for critical minerals poses a significant challenge to achieving net-zero targets.
“Present mineral exploration strategies fall short of delivering environmentally sustainable discoveries and production,” he noted.
Fleet House leverages cutting-edge 3D subsurface imaging technology and artificial intelligence-driven evaluation tools to revolutionize its operations and ensure a sustainable future for the company. We’re delighted to support the diverse team at Fleet House in their mission to accelerate the global shift towards a more sustainable energy landscape.
