Hiber, which is building a IoT satellite network to keep track IoT devices globally, raises €26M from the EU and private investors
Dan Taylor / Tech.eu :
Context & Ripple Effects
Hiber's €26M raise lands in the middle of a funding wave for satellite-based IoT connectivity: France's Kinéis pulled in €100M in 2020 for a 25-satellite constellation to connect devices and track ships, and Seattle's Hubble followed in 2023 with a $20M Series A for a network any Bluetooth device can reach. What distinguishes Hiber's round is the source — the EU is investing alongside private backers, an early signal of the public capital that later anchored the €10.6B Iris² satellite internet network.
The round matters because it positions Hiber in a race where the winners need both satellites and a ground-side data story — the gap Germany's HiveMQ addressed with a €40M Series A for moving IoT device data to the cloud.
First-order effects
- Hiber gains the capital to build out its constellation for global IoT device tracking, with the EU now holding a direct stake in a European connectivity asset rather than funding it only indirectly.
- Kinéis and Hubble, already funded for overlapping satellite-IoT missions, now face a third well-capitalized competitor in the same device-tracking market.
Second-order effects
- Ground-side IoT infrastructure vendors like HiveMQ become natural complements — whoever moves device data from orbit to the cloud shapes the stack satellite operators plug into.
- With the EU as an investor, Hiber's procurement and deployment decisions tilt toward European supply chains, pressuring US-backed rivals like Hubble on public-sector deals.
Third-order effects
- If the EU's direct stake in Hiber presages the Iris² model — 61% publicly funded — European satellite infrastructure is heading toward state-cofunded constellations competing with privately funded US networks.
- IoT connectivity is structurally migrating from terrestrial-only coverage to hybrid space-terrestrial networks, making constellation ownership a gating asset for device-tracking economics.
The trend: IoT connectivity is shifting to dedicated satellite constellations, with European public capital increasingly co-funding the buildout against privately backed US rivals.