UPTEC's startup raises two million euros to test space technology

Connected, a startup incubated at UPTEC– Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto, closed a pre-seed investment round worth two million euros, co-led by venture capital firms Shilling VC, Iberis Capital and FundBox and in which Amena Ventures, angel investor Keith Willey and British Octopus Ventures also entered.

The technology developed by Connected, which aims to develop NB-IoT (low bandwidth for the Internet of Things) connectivity solutions, provides a service with the ability to send and receive small volumes of data as small messages anywhere on the planet, using space infrastructure, in a service that they want to be global, accessible and standard.

Currently with twelve employees, Connected intends to use the funds to recruit a dozen more people by the end of this year and accelerate the technological development of its product to start testing in space in 2024.

For the CEO of Connected, Tiago Rebelo, Portugal has evolved in the value chain of the space sector in the European context. “Portugal has become a country where there are means, knowledge and capacity for companies operating in this sector to aim for a strengthened position as suppliers of technology, products and services with high added value, in particular in the context of New Space, the democratization of access to space and the reinforcement of private investment.

Last october, Raquel Magalhães shared that about 80% of the surface, whether terrestrial or sea, does not have terrestrial cellular network coverage and that Connected intended to solve this problem from space.

Connected was created in 2023 by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tiago Rebelo, Raquel Magalhães, Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), André Guerra, and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Hélder Oliveira.