Cailabs, a deep-tech EIC Accelerator beneficiary specialised in advanced photonics, today announced it has raised €57 million to accelerate its industrial expansion and global growth. The round of structured financing, led by the European Investment Bank (EIB), combines a €37 million financing from the EIB and a €20 million investment from Definvest and Fonds Innovation Defense (Armed Forces ministry and Bpifrance), NewSpace Capital, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, Starquest Capital, and CAIVE (Crédit Agricole Ille-et-Vilaine Expansion).
Cailabs and the CROCUS EIC project: coherent rapid optical communication under the stratosphere
Cailabs shapes laser light to enable faster, safer, more reliable and precise solutions, from industrial processes to data transmission, from Earth to Space. Laser communication in space is deemed the next generation of secure, high-throughput communications, offering increased bandwidth and faster data transfer.
This new technology, however, faces a major problem. Owing to their density, atmospheric turbulence diffracts the laser beams and scrambles information transfer. Funded by the European Innovation Council from 2022 to 2024, the CROCUS project aims to further advance a high-throughput laser communication terminal showing robustness to atmospheric turbulence that has been developed and tested by France-based company Cailabs. CROCUS envisions integrating the product into ground stations, drones, aeroplanes, ships and any vehicle below the stratosphere.
Accelerating Strategic Growth with a new investment round
Today Cailabs announced an overall funding round of €57 million, combining €37 million financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and €20 million investment from Definvest and Fonds Innovation Defense (Armed Forces ministry and Bpifrance), NewSpace Capital, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, Starquest Capital, and CAIVE (Crédit Agricole Ille-et-Vilaine Expansion).
The financing will support the production scale-up of up to 50 Optical Ground Stations annually by 2027, expand the company’s international footprint, and advance next-generation turnkey laser communications solutions
Space technologies are increasingly important for civilian use as well as for security and defense applications. As the bank of the European Union, the EIB supports Cailabs’ investments in manufacturing capabilities and in research & development of its laser communication technologies. The project is fully aligned with the EIB strategic priorities of security and defense, and technological innovation under its TechEU programme
reported Ambrose Fayolle, Vice-President at the European Investment Bank
This funding round reflects our solid fundamentals and the confidence investors have in our strategic vision. It enables us to scale up industrial capabilities and prepare for the next stage of growth
said Jean-François Morizur, Co-founder and CEO of Cailabs
Access to this structured financing reflects Cailabs’ increasing economic maturity, underpinned by more than 10 Optical Ground Stations (OGS) already under contract.
The proceeds of this financing will support Cailabs’ strategic roadmap, including:
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Scaling up production and strengthening its supply chain, with the goal of producing up to 50 OGS annually by 2027. The company has recently established a new industrial platform capable of assembling and validating up to five stations in parallel.
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Expanding international footprint, building on recent milestones such as the opening of a larger U.S. office, announced by the Governor of Virginia and large overseas contracts.
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Advancing its product offering, including turnkey 100+Gbps solutions, transportable Optical Ground Stations, expanded orbit options.
The EIC Fund is happy to be part of this funding round for Cailabs, a pioneering company in photonics. Supporting disruptive innovators like Cailabs is essential to strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in deep tech.
communicated Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board.
About Cailabs
Cailabs is a global deeptech company with offices in France and the United States. Founded in 2013, it designs, manufactures, and develops photonic solutions for the space, industry, telecommunications, and defense sectors. A global specialist in laser communication, the company has accelerated its growth in the space field with turnkey optical ground stations enabled by atmospheric turbulence compensation technology. This makes it one of the first companies to harness fast, reliable, and low-latency data links across both space and terrestrial networks.
Learn more about FlexiForm by visiting the Horizon Europe database and the official project website.
The current article is inspired by the press release published on the Cailabs website.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.