Europe's latest unicorn highlights dual-use potential of climate tech, says early investor

Rafal Modrzewski and Pekka Laurila founded ICEYE as a spin-off from Finland’s Aalto University back in 2015 to commercialise synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellites capable of imaging the planet day or night, through cloud cover.

ICEYE's first pilot project tested its ability to monitor pack ice from space. A few years later, in 2021, ICEYE's constellation of small satellites joined Europe’s Copernicus environmental monitoring programme, tracking floods, sea-ice loss, deforestation, soil moisture and other natural hazards from orbit

However, ICEYE has leaned heavily into defence since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022: SAR imagery is also highly valuable for intelligence and security. Today, defence contracts account for the bulk of the company’s business.

Europe's latest unicorn

Earlier this month, ICEYE raised €150m at a €2.4bn valuation in a funding round led by General Catalyst, becoming Europe's latest unicorn and highlighting how some climate-adjacent deep tech companies have benefited from a growing focus on defence.

“For Europe, it’s proof that globally competitive space companies focused on data intelligence and climate resilience are not only possible, but highly investable,” Maureen Haverty, investment principal at Seraphim Space, tells Impact Loop.

Seraphim, a UK-based spacetech VC, was one of ICEYE’s earliest backers, investing $1.2m in 2017 and making five follow-on investments since. ICEYE has now raised $648m in equity, according to Dealroom data.

Dual-use climate tech

Rising defence spending has become a political priority across Europe in recent years, helping to drive record levels of venture capital into space and defence-linked technologies. Dual-use systems – those with both civilian and military applications – have proved particularly attractive, including to investors traditionally focused on climate tech.

In a report published earlier this year, World Fund argued there is “no contradiction” between defence and climate. The German VC recently invested in Voltrac, a Spanish startup building autonomous tractors for both agricultural and defence use cases.

“Investors increasingly recognise that dual-use space technologies can deliver both strategic security and measurable environmental impact,” Haverty said.

ICEYE reported in 2025 that it had reached profitability, with revenues doubling to around €200m for the year. Alongside its defence contracts, the company recently partnered with Munich Re’s risk unit to use its radar satellites to detect floods in near real time, helping insurers and companies assess damage and exposure more quickly.