AIRMO raises €5M to put methane-sniffing satellites in orbit by 2027

The Berlin-based climate-tech startup has developed a micro-LiDAR and SWIR imager small enough to fly on a nanosatellite, and claims it can detect a methane leak the size of a leaking car from orbit.

AIRMO, a Berlin and Luxembourg-based startup building space-based greenhouse gas monitoring technology, has closed a €5 million seed round to fund its first satellite launch in 2027 and expand its existing airborne operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

The round was led by Ananda Impact Ventures, a Munich-based impact VC managing approximately €200 million across four funds. New investors joining the round include Unconventional Ventures, kopa ventures, Desai Ventures, and Hypernova / New Venture Securities.

Two partners from EQT, Matthias Fackler (Partner and Head of EQT Infrastructure Advisory Team Europe) and Francesco Starace (Partner in EQT’s Infrastructure Advisory Team and former CEO of Enel), invested as individual strategic investors, not through an EQT ...