Xona, a Burlingame company building a satellite navigation network meant as an upgrade to GPS, announced on Thursday, Oct. 22, that it raised $250 million in Series D funding at a $2.45 billion valuation.
Why it matters: Phones, cars, planes and power grids all lean on GPS, which can be jammed or spoofed. Xona is betting companies will pay for a stronger, more precise signal, and it is building the satellites on the Peninsula.
The deal
- Steve Jurvetson's Future Ventures led the round. Jurvetson is a longtime SpaceX board member.
- Xona has now raised more than $570 million since it was founded in 2019, the company said.
What Pulsar is
Xona's network, called Pulsar, broadcasts from satellites in low Earth orbit. The company says its signals are up to 100 times stronger than GPS, give centimeter-level precision, resist jamming and can reach receivers indoors.
Payload reports the long-term plan is a constellation of about 258 satellites.
Made in Burlingame
Earlier this month Xona launched six Pulsar satellites. Four will start beta service in early 2027, and the other two are the first built entirely in-house at its Burlingame headquarters, the company said.
Xona opened that production facility in April, Payload reported. "We're moving from development into repeatable satellite production, with a goal of reaching capacity to produce 50 satellites annually by the end of 2027," co-founder and CEO Brian Manning said, according to Payload.
More Peninsula tech news: Meta's Q3 earnings.