Space technology startup AIRMO has raised €5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Ananda Impact Ventures, with participation from Unconventional Ventures, kopa ventures, Pi Labs, Antler, Desai Ventures and Hypernova / New Venture Securities. Strategic backing also came from EQT partners Matthias Fackler and Francesco Starache.
A methane problem hiding in plain sight
Methane is one of the most powerful contributors to climate change, responsible for roughly 30% of global warming. Yet the majority of emissions remain undetected. Reportedly, nearly 70% of methane leaks go unreported, allowing massive volumes of gas to escape unnoticed.
For energy producers, the impact is not only environmental but economic. Methane leaks cost the industry nearly $100 billion every year, including $30 billion in lost revenue from gas that could otherwise be captured and sold.
The difficulty lies in detection. Many leaks occur in remote infrastructure, such as pipelines, refineries, and drilling operations, where traditional monitoring methods struggle to provide accurate or continuous data.
A new sensor built for space and air
AIRMO is tackling this problem with a sensor system designed to monitor greenhouse gases at unprecedented precision. The company has developed the world’s first active spaceborne greenhouse gas monitoring instrument, combining a shortwave infrared (SWIR) imager with micro-LIDAR technology.
For the first time, this powerful sensing capability has been engineered to fit on a small satellite platform. The system delivers measurements that are twice as accurate as those of existing monitoring technologies. In practical terms, that level of sensitivity means the instrument can detect a methane leak roughly the size of a car from 500 kilometres above Earth.
The technology has already proven itself in airborne operations. AIRMO’s sensors are currently deployed on drones and aircraft conducting monitoring campaigns across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Major energy companies, including Uniper, TotalEnergies and ESCE, are using the system to track emissions and monitor energy infrastructure.
The team behind AIRMO
AIRMO was founded in 2022 by Daria Stepanova, a rocket scientist and serial entrepreneur who has overseen 12 successful satellite launches, alongside Errico Armandillo, chief science officer and former head of optoelectronics at the European Space Agency, with nearly three decades of experience in LIDAR technologies.
It brings together specialists in atmospheric science, satellite instrumentation and large-scale space missions.
The leadership team includes Dr. Christoph Grobbel, advisor and former executive at South Pole and Terra Impact Ventures; and David Vilaseca, chief technology officer with 15 years of experience in optical instruments for space missions.
Co-founder Daria shared their backgrounds with TFN, stating, “I am an aerospace engineer with more than a decade of experience in the space sector, including work on CubeSat hardware and small satellite missions. Before founding AIRMO, I worked across space engineering, mission design, and data applications, where the idea of using satellite constellations to monitor greenhouse gas emissions was first developed. I am also a 4th‑time founder, bringing serial entrepreneurship experience to AIRMO’s growth.”
She added, “My co-founder, Errico Armandillo, brings several decades of experience in space missions and instrumentation from leading roles in European space programmes. Together, we combine deep technical expertise in satellite systems with hands-on experience in building and scaling tech companies.”
What are the diversity statistics?
Detailing diversity, Daria said, “AIRMO is a female-founded climate and space-tech company. Today, women represent a majority of the leadership team and a substantial share of the overall headcount, with the company deliberately hiring across multiple nationalities and backgrounds to reflect the global nature of the methane challenge.”
What are the plans for the near future?
Daria states, “Over the next 12 months, AIRMO will expand its airborne methane monitoring campaigns across Europe and the Middle East, scaling from individual pilots to repeat monitoring programs with large operators. In parallel, the team will complete the detailed design and integration roadmap for its AIRMO‑1 satellite with platform partner EnduroSat, de-risk the payload through extensive airborne operations, and build out the ground data processing pipeline that will support commercial satellite data delivery from 2027.”
Furthermore, he adds, “Additional milestones include advancing AI-based retrieval algorithms for hyperspectral data and strengthening partnerships with regulators, financial institutions, and industry initiatives to ensure AIRMO’s data feeds directly into OGMP 2.0 and EU methane regulation workflows.”
Daria Stepanova, CEO of AIRMO, comments: “AIRMO has a simple mission: to help operators find and stop greenhouse gas losses, starting with methane. We have developed this unique instrument to achieve this goal. With this funding, we are moving beyond validation into continuous monitoring that will solve this problem. And launching our first satellite mission is a major step towards realising our ambition to monitor 12 million energy assets worldwide.”
Alina Bassi, Principal at Ananda Impact Ventures, comments, “Methane leakage reduction is the most effective way to decarbonise the energy industry today. AIRMO’s ability to quantify GHG emissions from space with such high precision is a game-changer, finally solving a significant transparency problem for the energy sector. Having backed the team since inception, we are proud to continue supporting their journey as they move toward their first satellite launch.”
Alexis Burdick-Horowitz, Partner at Unconventional Ventures, comments, “At seed stage, we back founders who combine deep technical credibility with a clear view of the problem they are solving. Daria is a rare example of a female founder leading at the frontier of space technology, with the expertise and ambition to tackle one of the most urgent climate challenges. That unique combination of impact and commercial relevance is why we chose to back AIRMO early.”
Alan Poensgen, Partner at Antler, AIRMO’s first investor, comments, “We backed AIRMOat inception because we saw a team with the technical depth and grit required to tackle one of the planet’s most urgent challenges. Since our initial pre-seed investment, the team has proven that AIRMO’s end-to-end methane monitoring service is not just visionary, but commercially essential for energy operators seeking reliable, actionable emissions insights. We are proud to continue our support in this seed round as they move from successful airborne validation to launching their first satellites this year, finally making the invisible problem of methane emissions visible to the world.”
