“ICEYE has a clear potential to grow into a nationally significant listed company”, says Reima Rytsölä, the CEO of Solidium.
Solidium acted as the lead investor in the financing round of a Finnish SAR satellite imaging company ICEYE, signed April 15th, 2024. Solidium invests 40 million euros in the convertible bond of ICEYE in the financing round of over 80 million euros. In addition to Solidium, the round consists of both new investors as well as previous owners, all participants investing with the same commercial terms. The transaction’s closing is subject to necessary regulatory approval and is expected to take place in May.
ICEYE is a high-growth technology company offering SAR-based (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite imaging. The company operates in designing, manufacturing, and selling SAR-satellites. It also offers imaging data, analytics and solutions based on their own satellite constellation.
The company has a good growth track and strong references from a varying base of international clientele. ICEYE continues to observe significant growth and finished 2023 with over 95M euros in revenue on the company’s road to profitability. ICEYE currently has approximately 600 employees, a large share of which are in Finland.
“ICEYE is a particularly good fit for our updated strategy. ICEYE is a globally recognized leader in a rapidly growing, high-tech industry, and has a clear potential to grow into a nationally significant listed company. Hence ICEYE is also developing capabilities and fostering a technology cluster in Finland in the field of space technology sector and beyond” says Reima Rytsölä, the CEO of Solidium.
Through the investment, Solidium strengthens Finnish ownership in ICEYE. “The current geopolitical situation underlines the importance to advance the growth of Finnish and European cutting-edge technology companies. This is especially important in companies that develop and manufacture dual-use products and solutions. The State of Finland has already been an invested in ICEYE through Tesi (Finnish Industry Investments). It is natural that as the company grows and the profile and funding needs evolve, the profile of the investors also changes.” Reima Rytsölä continues.
“As a Finnish heritage company headquartered in Finland, we welcome our newest investor and board member, Solidium,” commented Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-Founder of ICEYE. “This backing from the domestic and international investment community shows trust in ICEYE’s vision to improve life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation. It is with great pride that we align with our newest investors in the pursuit of ICEYE leading the global market in SAR technology and its broad applications.”
Further information: CEO Reima Rytsölä, Solidium Oy; call-back requests, Inka Virtanen, tel. +358 50 304 7904
Solidium is a limited company wholly owned by the State of Finland. Its mission is to strengthen and stabilise Finnish ownership in nationally important companies and increase the value of its holdings in the long term. The basis and core objective of Solidium’s strategy is proper, value-enhancing asset management of its current holdings. Through its stakes, Solidium is a minority owner in eleven listed companies: Anora, Elisa, Konecranes, Metso, Nokia, Nokian Tyres, Outokumpu, Sampo, Stora Enso, Tietoevry and Valmet. The market value of Solidium’s investments is approximately EUR 7.5 billion. Further information: www.solidium.fi/en.
