Two developments made me return to the companies from my June 2025 post Small Satellites Here, There, Everywhere and the December follow-up on Planet Labs. EnduroSat has announced the largest funding round for a Bulgarian technology company. Planet Labs' share price has fallen about two thirds since the end of May. Fresh capital for one, much lower expectations for the other.
EnduroSat: $205m, valuation undisclosed
On September 16, EnduroSat announced a $205m round co-led by Riot Ventures and Atreides Management. Founders Fund - which led the €43m round announced in May 2025 that got me looking at satellites - is back, together with GV, Lux Capital, Omnes Capital, House Capital, Giant Ventures, Emphatic Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and the European Innovation Council Fund.
The sequence is worth spelling out:
May 2025: €43m, approximately $49m, led by Founders Fund
October 2025: $104m, announced alongside the opening of the new Sofia space center, to scale production
September 2026: $205m
That adds up to roughly $358m across the three announcements in less than 16 months. This is a substantial commitment to building production capacity.
If the new money bought 15-25% of the company, the implied post-money valuation would be approximately $0.8-$1.4b. The actual stake and terms have not been disclosed. EnduroSat is potentially the second Bulgarian unicorn.
There is not much public information to go on, so take these with a grain of salt:
Reported preliminary 2025 revenue of €34-35m, up over 55%, and Raycho Raychev's expectation of roughly doubling it in 2026 based on signed business.
EnduroSat reports more than 350 employees across seven locations and over 450 customers.
It reports 103 satellites launched to orbit cumulatively and more than 200 delivered.
Doubling the reported revenue gives €68-70m, or about $78-81m. Combined with the assumed valuation range, that implies roughly 10-18x expected 2026 revenue. At an assumed $1b valuation, the figure would be around 12.5x.
What the money is for is more concrete. Raychev's bet remains standardization. The Sofia space center opened in October 2025 is designed for up to two 200-500 kg ESPA-class satellites per day. EnduroSat describes its modular bus as allowing assembly and functional testing in hours. The expansion plans include:
larger spacecraft, with ambitions for serial production in the 0.5-5.0 tonne range
a new high-volume factory in the US
a space and defense hub at the former Dobroslavtsi airbase near Sofia, which EnduroSat aims to make the EU's largest
The Dobroslavtsi project is planned as a public-private partnership. An August 6 government announcement identifies Starbase Europe as the memorandum counterparty. Capital.bg reports a proposed investment of over €100m. These are development plans rather than completed capacity.
A customer win gives the manufacturing story substance. On September 17, Vantor, formerly Maxar Intelligence, selected EnduroSat for buses and integration services for the initial Pulse satellites, with CACI providing optical payloads. The planned fleet comprises 24 satellites, designed for 40 cm-class imagery and revisits as frequent as 15 minutes, with deployment expected in 2027-2029. EnduroSat also signed an MoU with Arianespace, including plans to book Ariane 64 launches from 2029.
Gavin Baker (Atreides) connects cheaper, more frequent access to orbit with a wider customer base. That fits the broader space infrastructure optimism I discussed then, although satellite manufacturing (I am bullish) and orbital AI data centers (I am bearish) remain different commercial bets.
Additionally, Pulse could add competition in the high-resolution market Planet is targeting with Pelican. More standardized buses could lower barriers to building a constellation. But a bus is only part of the service: sensors, coverage, reliability, processing, distribution and customer relationships still matter. I would put less weight on satellite count alone as evidence of a moat. I would also stop short of saying that the archive is all Planet has left.
Planet Labs: better results, a much lower price
In the December post, I described Planet trading around $19 and quoted roughly 18x forward sales, which I called eye-popping. It subsequently closed May 29 at $51.14. Using the April share count, including Class B, and the midpoint of the annual revenue guidance then available gives approximately 43x FY27 sales. Expectations for the AI and sovereign satellite opportunities had become expensive.
Planet released FY27-Q1 results after the close on June 4.
Revenue reached $94.2m, up 42%.
Annual revenue guidance increased to $425-441m from $415-440m.
Annual non-GAAP gross-margin guidance also rose, from 50-52% to 52-54%
The quarter's actual margin was 56%
Capex guidance stayed at $80-95m, unchanged from March.
On June 5, Planet filed a program permitting up to $1.5b of at-the-market equity sales. Management signaled that their currency is strong and they intend to capitalize on it. The market didn’t take it well. The shares fell over 25% that day, from ~$44 to $32. Before that decline, the disclosed April share count implies a market cap of around $15b. The authorization was substantial (10%), but it was permission to raise capital over time, not $1.5bn of immediate issuance. This nuance didn’t matter. The capital raise was good capital management poorly executed.
Contemporary coverage identified dilution concerns as a major contributor to the fall. That is plausible, especially at the valuation Planet had reached. The same day brought a broad market and space-stock sell-off. I read June as a sharp reassessment of valuation and financing risk despite improving guidance. The results themselves do not support a story of a sudden operating reversal.
The FY27-Q2 report, released after the close on September 3, strengthened the operating case:
record revenue of $116.1m, up 58%
non-GAAP gross margin of 59%, versus 61% a year earlier
adjusted EBITDA profit of $13.9m, versus $6.4m a year earlier
cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $865.4m
annual revenue guidance of $430-441m
non-GAAP gross-margin guidance raised to 55-57%
The shares had fallen 8.20% during September 3, before the release. The next session's decline was 1.25%. At the September 17 close of $16.99, they were 67% below the May 29 close and below the price discussed in my December post. A round trip for the shares, while the business continued to grow.
Here is what I would focus on at this valuation.
Revenue timing matters more. On the earnings call, management said 12% of Q2 revenue was recognized at a point in time, compared with 1% a year earlier. That is about $14m in total. The Swedish satellite handover was an important contributor and occurred in Q2 rather than the expected Q3. Guidance for Q3 is $101-105m, about 27% growth at the midpoint, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1-6m. The sequential decline therefore partly reflects timing. I would judge this expanding mix of data and satellite services across several quarters rather than annualize either the Q2 beat or the Q3 step down.
Backlog needs replenishing. The $734.5m reported with December's results was followed by $900.4m at January 31 and more than $906m at April 30. It then fell to $814.9m at July 31, approximately 10% lower sequentially while still up 11% year over year. Large agreements, including Germany's and the commercial contract with SKY Perfect JSAT, helped build that book. Delivering contracted work reduces backlog, so a quarterly decline does not by itself establish weaker demand. It does make the next rounds of orders and renewals more important. The question is whether Planet can replenish the work it delivers while maintaining attractive economics.
The financing buys capacity, at a cost. The Q2 release reports approximately $120m raised through the ATM at an average net price of $31.95. Those sales look well timed relative to September's price, while diluting existing holders. September capex guidance increased to $100-115m as Planet expands manufacturing and invests in its fleets. Its liquidity is substantial, but the July 10-Q also shows $460m principal of convertible notes outstanding. The return on the new capacity, and the cash flow ultimately available per share, matter more than the size of the cash balance alone.
The multiple is lower, but still demanding. At $17, the approximately 363.85m Class A and B shares disclosed for August 27 imply equity value of about $6.2b. Dividing by the $435.5m midpoint of FY27 revenue guidance gives roughly 14x sales. That compares with approximately 43x at the end of May using the same method and then-current guidance. The decline is roughly two thirds. A large fall leaves more room for execution risk, but 14x sales still asks a lot of future margins and growth.
There is evidence behind the demand story. An $8m NGA award for global monitoring, a German tender with a maximum value of €25m over five years including options, and Planet's first national program of its kind in Africa through Rwanda. These support the opportunity, while contract ceilings are not guaranteed revenue.
The technology work also continues. July's Pelican-11 launch put an engineering demonstrator in orbit for a generation designed to deliver up to 30 cm-class imagery; Planet does not expect that demonstrator to supply commercial data. Management says customer demand is accelerating Owl development. By the September report, Tanager-2 had shipped to its launch site and the AI application for querying Planet's archive had entered open beta. All these are important milestones.
My December skepticism about the price survives. The operating evidence deserves more credit, though. Growth accelerated and annual margin guidance improved while the shares fell. Around $17, the question is whether the price now compensates for the capital required, the less predictable revenue mix and the competitive risk. The archive remains difficult to recreate retrospectively. How much customers will pay for it, and how profitably Planet can combine it with fresh imagery and analytics, still needs demonstrating.
The Scoreboard
EnduroSat has secured another large round to expand manufacturing
Planet has continued growing while its public valuation contracted sharply
We do not know EnduroSat's actual valuation or whether its revenue multiple rose. The illustrative 10-18x range overlaps Planet's approximately 14x FY27 sales.
Both companies build and operate satellites. EnduroSat is betting on making that infrastructure more repeatable and accessible. Planet combines it with data, an archive and analytics. Standardization could increase competition and expand the market at the same time.
For EnduroSat, I want to see the new capacity turn into deliveries and profitable growth. For Planet, I want backlog replenishment and stronger cash generation per share to accompany the reported growth.
The financing is encouraging, and the lower public valuation helps. Neither settles the investment case. I will keep following both.