Europe struggles with a shortage of independent, timely, and very high-resolution Earth observation data, especially as needs are exploding in defence, climate tracking, disaster response, energy shifts, and infrastructure projects. Current options fall short on speed, sovereignty, and detail for critical decisions.
Marble Imaging, founded in Bremen in 2023, is planning a fleet of multispectral satellites to deliver global, very high-resolution imagery as often as hourly, complete with analytics for real-world use.
They just raised €5.3 million in an oversubscribed seed round led by High-Tech Gründerfonds, with backing from BAB Beteiligungs- und Management-gesellschaft Bremen mbH (BBM), Lightfield Equity, Oslo Venture Company, nwk | nwu Beteiligungsgesellschaften der Sparkasse Bremen, Sentris Capital, Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund and SpaceFounders.
The new investment will support the company as it scales its team, strengthens its technology, and prepares for the launch of its first satellite in 2026, as well as accelerate work on Marble’s intelligence, maritime, and terrain-analysis tools, which early customers are already using.
The company has already secured more than €10 million in non-dilutive funding and signed a €3 million anchor contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).
Network of very high-resolution satellites
Marble Imaging was co-founded in 2023 by Robert Hook (CEO), Dr. Gopika Suresh (CSO), and Alexander Epp (CBDO), and Dr. Raul Scarlat, who collectively bring over a decade of experience in space systems, Earth observation science, satellite data processing, and EO industry business development. Hook has led major European EO programs, including the Copernicus CO2M mission.
Motivated by the strategic importance of sovereign EO capabilities for Europe and a growing global need for accessible, high-quality EO data, the founders set out to create a comprehensive EO data service ecosystem. Their mission is to deliver rapid, reliable, and independent VHR EO data that enables timely decision-making for security, environmental monitoring, and infrastructure management, building a European star for a global market.
At its core, Marble builds small satellites with multispectral cameras, hitting visible, near-IR, and short-wave IR for sharp, frequent shots worldwide. Standouts are custom AI analytics for that data, pinpoint terrain and traffic checks, plus a full pipeline from orbit to user portal. Dual-use design seamlessly blends civilian and defence tools.
Unlike Maxar Technologies with its pricey big sats, Planet Labs’ daily but lower-res coverage, or ICEYE’s radar focus, Marble bets on European control, ultra-fast revisits, and analytics tuned for urgent Euro need
What’s next?
The company plans to scale the constellation to up to 20 satellites by 2028, enabling fast revisit rates and near-hourly insights for defence, climate, and crisis response customers. Marble already offers services such as object detection for intelligence, terrain and trafficability analysis, monitoring coastal assets, and land cover classification.
“Marble Imaging is addressing a critical European capability gap in the very-high resolution domain, and I do not see any other company tackling it faster than Marble does. The need for independent, timely and VHR optical data will only increase in the coming years, and I’m happy to support the founders building a European star for a global market”, says Koen Geurts, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF.
