How Czech Capital Powers SatVu’s Push for Persistent Thermal Intelligence

• Czech VC Presto Tech Horizons joined SatVu’s GBP 30M / USD 40M funding round alongside major institutional investors
• SatVu develops thermal intelligence satellites enabling persistent monitoring for defence, infrastructure, and industrial applications
• This funding accelerated SatVu’s multi-satellite constellation and transition toward commercial-scale intelligence services
• Presto Tech Horizons’ investment highlights CEE’s expanding role in financing Allied defence innovation

This February, the renowned Czech VC fund Presto Tech Horizons aka Tech Horizons (invested in Occam Industries, among others) supported UK-based thermal intelligence company SatVu as it accelerates the development of its next-gen space-based intelligence capabilities. The GBP 30M / USD 40M was co-led by the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) and the British Business Bank. Other participating investors include SatVu’s both new and long-standing supporters, such as Lockheed Martin Ventures, Noa VC, Ridgeline, Seraphim Space, Space Frontiers Fund II by SPARX Asset Management, and Stellar Ventures.

Founded in 2016 by a team led by Anthony Baker, SatVu is a UK-based thermal intelligence company delivering high-resolution insight from space for government, defence, security, and commercial customers. Its satellites capture thermal imagery at 3.5-m resolution, enabling detection and assessment of operational changes across complex environments, day and night. The company is developing a multi-satellite constellation designed to provide persistent thermal intelligence for defence, critical infrastructure monitoring, industrial activity analysis, and climate-related applications.

Seeing What Conventional Earth Observation Cannot

Unlike traditional optical Earth observation systems, SatVu’s thermal intelligence capability captures heat signatures from the ground, enabling clients to identify activity and operational changes regardless of daylight conditions. This technology delivers thermal imagery at 3.5-m resolution, providing insights across defence, security, energy, industrial monitoring, and critical infrastructure applications.

According to Mr Baker, the company was founded around a fundamental gap in existing intelligence capabilities:

‘We created SatVu to give governments access to intelligence they cannot access elsewhere. High-resolution thermal imagery from space reveals activity that is otherwise invisible — day and night — including heat signatures associated with operations inside and around buildings and critical infrastructure. This allows governments to assess activity, readiness, and operational change — a critical new data layer that matters for defence, security, and sovereign decision-making.’

Thus, SatVu positions its technology as complementary to existing Earth observation capabilities, adding a new layer of information alongside optical and radar-based sensing. SatVu’s capability is designed to support government and defence customers requiring independent information about infrastructure, military supply chains, energy assets, and industrial activity.

From Demonstration to Persistent Intelligence

February’s funding supported SatVu’s transition from satellite technology demonstration to commercial-scale deployment, enabling the company to expand its multi-satellite constellation and deliver persistent thermal intelligence designed to reveal operational activity invisible to conventional Earth observation systems.

More specifically, it accelerates its roadmap toward a multi-satellite constellation. SatVu has two satellites planned for orbit in 2026, with additional spacecraft already initiated under contract. HotSat-2 and HotSat-3 are expected to expand operational capacity, while HotSat-4 and HotSat-5, alongside long-lead elements of HotSat-6, support the company’s longer-term constellation strategy.

While SatVu’s first satellite demonstrated capability, a constellation enables persistent monitoring by increasing revisit frequency and allowing clients to identify patterns of activity and operational change over time as the team believes that what clients need is trusted intelligence that helps them make decisions as opposed to more overwhelming volumes of data.

Growing Allied Support for Sovereign Capabilities

‘We are committed to strengthening national security by scaling British SMEs and startups which help keep the UK’s defence industry at the cutting edge of innovation. Our support for defence firms through UK Defence Innovation is building British sovereign capabilities and driving economic growth across the country,’ the UK’s Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard notes.

The investment comes as governments and defence organisations increasingly seek independent intelligence capabilities to strengthen resilience, readiness, and decision-making in contested environments. The NATO Innovation Fund’s lead participation highlights growing demand for European and allied defence technologies that strengthen strategic autonomy and reduce dependence on external intelligence sources.

‘We are pleased to support SatVu as it revolutionises the earth observation market, delivering critical insights to the security, finance and commodities sectors to help safeguard defence and economic activity across the Alliance,’ NATO Innovation Fund Senior Associate Trisha Saxena states.

‘SatVu has created a unique technology at a time of great demand for defence innovation. They have proved the strategic value of their technology so we are pleased to provide the funding that will help them to scale and win further contracts,’ British Business Bank’s Investment Director George Mills adds.

Scaling for the Next Stage of Growth

For SatVu, the next phase is focused on execution: launching satellites, expanding coverage, increasing customer adoption, and building a sustainable intelligence platform. According to SatVu’s Chief Financial Officer Camilla Taylor, the investment provides the foundation for the company’s next stage of growth.

‘This funding secures SatVu’s path to execute at scale. We have a clear and credible path to a multi-satellite constellation, accompanied by investors that match the ambition and pace of the business. This round provides the ability to move fast into sustained delivery this year – driving a major value inflection as we scale commercial operations and position the business for its next growth phase,’

‘This investment enables us to scale a UK-built, sovereign thermal capability into a multi-satellite constellation supporting government customers in the UK and across Allied nations worldwide. From monitoring critical infrastructure and military supply chains, to detecting covert activity and verifying what others cannot, thermal intelligence is essential to modern ISR. This round strengthens our ability to deliver at scale, accelerating our strategy and increasing our agility to respond to evolving defence and security requirements, positioning SatVu to be the partner of choice for nations that cannot afford uncertainty in an increasingly contested world,’ Mr Baker adds.

The company believes the key metrics of success will not be the sheer number of satellites deployed, but the ability to deliver reliable and dependable intelligence products for clients.

Beyond Defence: Expanding the Potential of Thermal Intelligence

While defence and security remain central markets, SatVu sees broader opportunities for its technology. Thermal intelligence can provide insights into industrial activity, power generation, manufacturing processes, energy infrastructure, and climate-related monitoring as the team is convinced that heat is a fundamental indicator of activity—from monitoring industrial production and energy systems to detecting changes in infrastructure performance.

As governments and industries place greater emphasis on resilience, sovereign capability, and independent information sources, SatVu is positioning thermal intelligence as a new category within the Earth observation market. The move toward a multi-satellite constellation represents a shift from technology validation toward operational delivery—bringing persistent thermal intelligence closer to becoming a critical data layer for defence, security, and infrastructure decision-making.

For Presto Tech Horizons, the investment in SatVu reflected a broader trend: CEE investors aren’t merely observing Europe’s defence tech transformation, but are actively helping shape it. As one of the region’s few venture funds dedicated to defence, security, and dual-use technologies, the Czech fund is building a portfolio of companies developing capabilities that strengthen NATO interoperability, European resilience, and sovereign technological advantage. By joining a syndicate led by the NATO Innovation Fund and the British Business Bank, Tech Horizons reinforces the growing role of the CEE innovation ecosystem in financing the next generation of Allied defence technologies.