Satellites are connecting us in ways that we could not have imagined a few years ago. Today we can access their power through devices in our pockets or on our wrists. In this technology revolution, Skylo is at the front of the pack – and we are thrilled to announce that NGP Capital is leading its $30M financing round.

Skylo is changing the game in satellite communications through its visionary team, deep technology stack and extraordinary go-to-market execution. Its software-defined approach in redefining how people and devices interact everyday is a direct match to NGP’s convergence thesis, which envisions the unification of digital and physical worlds.

Unprecedented Connectivity with Satellite-Based Networks

While cellular networks have been deployed widely over the past few decades, connectivity gaps remain significant, even in heavily populated urban and suburban areas. In the US alone, an estimated 60 million cellular subscribers are outside coverage zones for up to 25% of each day​. For industries relying on real-time data—such as freight, oil & gas, agriculture, and maritime – these gaps can pose not just inefficiencies but existential operational risks.

Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) have emerged as a critical solution to this connectivity challenge. While traditional satellite communications have been expensive – with dedicated user devices, terminals and large antennas mainly supporting specialized enterprise and government applications – recent advances have democratized access to always-on coverage, and are fueling a new era of direct-to-device (D2D)services. In this new paradigm, consumer mobile phones, wearables, IoT devices, and automobiles can seamlessly and directly connect to satellite networks. Skylo has established itself as a leader in this early but quickly expanding market, offering one of the world’s first commercial D2D solutions.

The Skylo value proposition is simple but powerful. When consumers or enterprise assets find themselves outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage zones, instead of dropping to zero signal and going dark, compatible devices will connect either automatically or via user prompt to satellite links powered by Skylo. Basic SOS, location and two-way texting services are offered today, with voice capabilities on the way. The security of constant coverage is much more than a nice-to-have; it has proven to be life saving in emergency situations.

Apple established the early market foundations by first offering satellite connectivity for its iPhones in 2022, with doubling-down investments in NTN capabilities since then. With these important shots fired and consumer awareness escalating, we do not see the market turning back. We anticipate that the global D2D satellite opportunity will grow ~10X in the next 3 years, to over $6B by 2027.

Skylo’s Proven Technology Stack Unlocks the Power of Space

We often find that the most innovative companies abstract away tremendous technical complexity in their products. What Skylo has done is rendered simply but magically – connecting devices to satellites in orbit more than 22,000 miles away as effortlessly as with terrestrial cell towers. This is achieved without any hardware modifications at the antenna or chip level – an amazing technical accomplishment.

At the heart of Skylo’s technology is a proprietary “standards plus” radio access network (RAN), that builds on industry-established 3GPP 5G frameworks while layering in dozens of practical and performance related enhancements. Breakthroughs in areas such as power efficiency (preserving valuable battery life) and spectral management (squeezing the most data through narrow transmission bands) make the Skylo offering so special.

The innovation does not end there. Skylo has architected its own cloud-based network – with features, services and interfaces that make its satellite-based network appear like a conventional cellular operation externally, facilitating scalable integration. To unlock ecosystem scale at the device level, Skylo has also dialed in a test and qualification process that streamlines modem and chipset compatibility with its service. The protocol is tried-and-true, with leading providers including Qualcomm, Mediatek, Compal, Sony, and Samsung already certified.

Critically, Skylo delivers connectivity by partnering with players with existing satellite assets and licensed spectrum in L- and S-bands – without grabbing any cellular spectrum used by mobile operators. This confers an immediate business advantage and avoids the triggering of bespoke technical integration or repurposing headaches.

One dimension of the Skylo story that excites us most is that this technology is not at the hypothetical or early development stage. It is operational on millions of consumer and enterprise devices – including the latest premium smartphones like Google’s Pixel 9 in the continental US and Samsung’s Galaxy S25 on Verizon. As it scales, Skylo is collecting data at a prodigious rate. It invests that intelligence right back into the product – a crucial advantage as it builds on its category leadership.

Resonance with NGP’s Investment Approach

At NGP we aim to back entrepreneurs that work with relentless passion to build generational, category-defining companies. We are fortunate to have known the Skylo founders for nearly two years. Parth Trivedi, Andrew Nuttall, Tarun Gupta, and Andrew Kalman met through Stanford Aero-Astro and Graduate School of Business connections. They are technically brilliant, understand the telecommunications industry cold, and have attracted industry veterans to the executive team around them. They are also remarkable long-term relationship builders – critical for Skylo’s unique positioning as an indispensable capability that brings device manufacturers, MNOs, chipset providers and satellite operators together.

Our investment in Skylo also reflects our ramping excitement about the space technology category and Skylo represents our third such recent partnership. Skylo has a differentiated profile within the space ecosystem in its capital-light approach, taking on an existing NTN market opportunity with revenue generation today – not promised after several years and only after retirement of successive, long-term technical milestones.

This financing intersects Skylo at a time of profound inflection for the business and will fuel its expansion. We could not be more excited to partner closely with Skylo as it continues to establish new benchmarks in satellite connectivity and extend its trajectory of incredible commercial growth. We look forward to reaching for the stars together.

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Space technology is already changing the ways that we live and work as a global society – with much more impact coming in the next few years. If you are building a transformative company in this segment, please reach out to me. Also, Skylo is looking to add exceptional members to its global team – if you are interested in joining a rocketship (pun intended), please contact them here!

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