Near Space Labs announced $20 million in Series B funding to accelerate delivery of its ultra-high-resolution, frequent aerial imagery across the continental United States. Bold Capital Partners, founded by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis of XPRIZE and Singularity University, led the round, with participation from USAA, Climate Capital, Gaingels, and River Park Ventures, joined by existing investors Crosslink Capital, Third Sphere, Draper Associates, and others.
"Near Space Labs has solved a fundamental challenge in geospatial intelligence: delivering high-resolution imagery with the frequency, scale, and economics that truly unlock commercial value," said Will Borthwick, Principal at Bold Capital. "Their industry-first, nationwide stratospheric robotics platform is uniquely positioned to do for aerial imagery what SpaceX did for satellite launches—dramatically increasing access while reducing costs.”
The funding announcement comes as the multi-trillion-dollar insurance industry increasingly demands detailed, frequent data to drive competitive decision-making. This trend, largely driven by a greater focus on AI enabled workflows in insurance, is a determined move away from traditional risk analysis that relied on static, decades-old modeling containing significant variances due to extensive data gaps.
“We are proud to announce an investment in Near Space Labs,” said Nathan McKinley, USAA vice president and head of corporate development. “We believe that high-resolution stratospheric imaging will transform how the insurance industry underwrites policies and fulfills claims. The novel way Near Space Labs provides this data drives higher quality, faster turnaround, and lower cost than other sources, which ultimately results in better service for policy holders.”
As organizations increasingly rely on high-resolution geospatial insights, Near Space Labs will leverage its new funding to increase imagery coverage to include 80 percent of the U.S. population twice a year, providing industries like property and casualty (P&C) insurance with mission-critical 7cm imagery to modernize decision-making. To do so, Near Space Labs is significantly expanding its proprietary fleet of Swift robots, capable of capturing imagery of areas equivalent to entire cities like New York or Los Angeles within just a few hours. This coverage capability would otherwise require approximately 800,000 drone flights to achieve, and the fleet accomplishes in a single flight what traditional systems need days or weeks to complete.
Operating at altitudes three times higher than airplanes—the strategic point above aircraft but below satellites, the robots can mobilize rapidly for urgent missions or provide regular, scheduled coverage updates across extensive geographic regions.
"Earth observation users have been forced to choose between satellite imagery lacking detail and traditional aerial surveys that are costly and infrequent," said Rema Matevosyan, CEO and co-founder of Near Space Labs. "Our unique stratospheric approach eliminates this dilemma, combining satellite-like coverage with market-leading resolution. With our nationwide technical infrastructure now in place, this funding enables us to scale our operations and execute on our product roadmap.”
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