To help establish the relationships required to allow more smartphones to connect to satellites for low-bandwidth services like texting, Skylo has raised $37 million.

The investment round was disclosed on February 13, a year after Bullitt, a British ruggedized handset maker, unveiled the first Skylo-enabled smartphone. Bullitt has since experienced financial troubles.

The ground infrastructure required for satellites in geostationary orbit to connect to mass market devices has been developed by Silicon Valley-based Skylo using standards that have been widely adopted by the cellular industry.

The investment round was disclosed on February 13, a year after Bullitt, a British ruggedized handset maker, unveiled the first Skylo-enabled smartphone. Bullitt has since experienced financial troubles.

Gupta claims that devices that have updated their firmware to connect to the network could send and receive texts with a latency of five to fifteen seconds using geostationary satellites.

In collaboration with satellite operators Viasat, Ligado Networks, and TerreStar, Skylo said last month that this standards-based capability is now accessible throughout the contiguous United States and Canada.

The most recent funding round for Skylo was co-led by venture capitalist Intel and early-stage investor Innovation Endeavors. Skylo, which has been around for seven years, came out of stealth in 2020 with $116 million in funding.

David Johnson, managing director of Intel Capital, will become a board member of Skylo as part of the agreement.

In order to support more partnerships and improve services for the consumer, automotive, agricultural, energy, and transportation markets, Skylo plans to use the funds to hire 53 new employees, bolster marketing initiatives, and broaden its geographic reach.