Star Cloud raises $250M Series A extension with Nvidia investing as it books launches and scales manufacturing
Key Points
- Star Cloud raises $250 million Series A extension at $2.3 billion valuation, with Nvidia investing $25 million to fund launch bookings through 2029 and manufacturing expansion.
- Star Cloud One, carrying the first Nvidia H100 deployed in space, remains operational running SAR inference for military and government customers since November launch.
- Star Cloud books 25 satellites with SpaceX laser terminals and spreads launch contracts across multiple providers to avoid dependence on any single rocket operator.
Summary
Read full transcript →Star Cloud has raised a $250 million Series A extension at a $2.3 billion valuation, with Nvidia putting in $25 million and Cisco joining alongside other investors.
Use of proceeds
Johnston lays out three purposes for the raise. First, securing launch slots for 2028 and 2029, which requires meaningful upfront capital. Second, satisfying large data center partners — companies he says want to see a few hundred million dollars on the balance sheet before committing resources to joint projects. Those partnerships haven't been named yet. Third, moving into larger manufacturing facilities and growing headcount.
“We just raised a series a extension, $250,000,000 at a $2,300,000,000 [valuation]. With NVIDIA investing, 25,000,000, and Cisco coming in and a bunch of other folks... We launched the Star Cloud One satellite in November last year. So that had the first NVIDIA h 100 on board. It's still going strong.”
What's in orbit now
Star Cloud launched its first satellite, Star Cloud One, in November last year, carrying the first Nvidia H100 deployed in space. Johnston says it's still operational and running inference workloads, primarily on SAR satellite imagery for military and government customers. Three more launches are booked for next year — two in Q1, one later in the year — with additional launch agreements to be announced.
SpaceX relationship and launch diversification
Star Cloud has signed a contract for its next 25 satellites to carry SpaceX laser terminals, using Starlink for connectivity, and has launch bookings with SpaceX as well. At the same time, Johnston is deliberately booking across multiple launch providers to avoid single-provider dependence. Deposits typically run 10 to 20% of total launch cost, refundable if a launch doesn't go ahead — though Johnston acknowledges that on more experimental rockets, a failed launch likely signals the provider has bigger problems than a deposit dispute.
The commercial story is still a few years out, but Star Cloud is using this window to lock in infrastructure, satisfy enterprise gatekeepers, and prove out the hardware. The H100 running SAR inference in low Earth orbit is the working proof point Johnston is selling against.
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