Brian Barritt, Aalyria CTO and Founder
Provided by: Aariria
In 2022, google We spun out a project focused on high-speed communication networks into a startup called Aalyria. Less than four years later, Aalyria has been valued by investors at $1.3 billion in a new funding round, reflecting the surge in demand for reliable and fast communications.
Aalyria’s software helps networks deliver better services across land, sea, and space. The $100 million in new funding comes as the U.S. government ramps up spending on defense technology and national security satellites and the Trump administration seeks to overtake China.
SpaceX’s Starlink has won government contracts and is gaining popularity among consumers, especially in areas where traditional high-speed internet is underserved. Rivals like Eutelsat, Amazon Some companies are investing heavily in their own services.
Google will continue to own a stake in Aalyria. Battery Ventures led the new funding round, with participation from companies including J2 Ventures and DYNE.
Battery general partner Michael Brown said SpaceX’s successful commercialization of Starlink and low-orbit satellites “has heightened competitive anxiety for satellite vendors.” In the early days of Russia’s war with Ukraine, the United States and European countries called for greater diversity among service providers after SpaceX suspended Starlink over Crimea.
“They love Starlink, but they also want an alternative,” Brown said. “This is where Aalyria comes into play. When you have different satellite platforms, including those in low and medium Earth orbit, the ability to route traffic between them has been nearly impossible. But Aalyria provides a seamless networking layer.”
Aliria has already secured contracts and research funding from partners including Telesat, the U.S. Air Force, NASA, the Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, the European Space Agency, and other government agencies.
If a natural disaster destroys terrestrial cell towers, Aalyria’s Spacetime software allows satellite communications networks to move to cover the affected areas within seconds instead of days, said Brian Barritt, founder and head of technology.
In space, the company’s software instructs satellites in a constellation to automatically reconfigure to fill gaps that arise when other satellites degrade for any reason.
Barritt said one of the challenges in the market is that companies building space-based networks have so many risks at stake that they may want to build a network orchestration solution from scratch. He says it will take time to gain customer trust, but “once we realize the benefits of having a network operating system work with other operating systems, orchestrating networks of networks, and monetizing unused capacity, things will tilt in our favor.”
Aalyria also sells hardware called Tightbeam, which is a laser communication system. It can be installed on ships, planes, and other aircraft and can transmit data over distances of more than 100 kilometers at speeds comparable to fiber internet cables.
The technology behind Aalyria’s Spacetime software was developed within Google and used as part of the company’s project Loon, which uses high-altitude balloons to beam internet service to underserved communities. Its Tightbeam system was also developed at Google and before that at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Alphabet closed Project Rune in 2021, opening the opportunity for Aliria’s founding team to acquire and commercialize the technology. Mr. Barritt was previously a senior staff software engineer at Google. Cisco Meanwhile, founding CEO Chris Taylor is a national security expert.
Taylor brings decades of experience selling technology to the U.S. government and allied nations for civil and military purposes. He secured the company’s first outside funding from investors including Arthur Patterson, co-founder of venture firm Accel Partners.
Headquartered in Livermore, Calif., with offices in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, and London, Aalyria currently has approximately 90 employees and works with Google, Amazon, meta And NASA. With the new funding, Aliria plans to increase its headcount by at least a third over the next year, while also investing in products, engineering and customer support, Taylor said.
Battery’s Brown said he expects the funding will allow the company to “launch our first constellation of satellites, operate them in space, power Aliria every minute of every day, and begin to capture additional commercial and government opportunities.”
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