US EditionRedmond Satellite Startup Tops $1 Billion Valuation
Starcloud's $170 million Series A funds GPU-powered satellites for space-based data centers, aiming to compete with terrestrial hyperscalers with innovative multi-GPU spacecraft.
- On Monday, March 30, 2026, Redmond, Washington-based Starcloud announced $170 million in Series A funding, reaching a $1.1 billion valuation and becoming the fastest unicorn in Y Combinator history.
- Permitting new data centers on Earth can take up to five years; Starcloud bypasses these constraints by utilizing unlimited solar power in low Earth orbit.
- In November 2025, the company launched Starcloud-1, a 60-kilogram satellite carrying an Nvidia H100 GPU, achieving the milestone just 21 months after founding.
- Later this year, Starcloud will launch Starcloud-2 with Nvidia's Blackwell B200 chip, while developing Starcloud-3 to launch from SpaceX's Starship using a "Pez dispenser" system.
- While competitors like Aetherflux and Google's Project Suncatcher pursue space-based computing, CEO Philip Johnston acknowledges orbital data centers won't displace terrestrial facilities soon, though he expects the sector to become the fastest growing segment within a decade.
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Starcloud reaches US$1.1 billion valuation as AI space race heats up
Orbital compute infrastructure startup Starcloud has raised US$170 million at a $1.1 billion valuation, as companies including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin race to move power-hungry AI data centers off-planet.
Starcloud raises $170M at a $1.1B valuation to build data centres in orbit
The Redmond, Washington startup, which already has an Nvidia H100 GPU operating in orbit and has trained the first AI model in space, is now building a Starship-class spacecraft designed to be the first orbital data centre cost-competitive with terrestrial facilities. Starcloud has raised $170 million in a Series A round led by Benchmark and […] This story continues at The Next Web
Space data center startup Starcloud raised a $170M Series A led by Benchmark and EQT at a $1.1B valuation, and plans to launch Starcloud 2 later in 2026 (Tim Fernholz/TechCrunch)
Tim Fernholz / TechCrunch: Space data center startup Starcloud raised a $170M Series A led by Benchmark and EQT at a $1.1B valuation, and plans to launch Starcloud 2 later in 2026 — Starcloud's latest funding round values the space compute company at $1.1 billion, making it one of the fastest…
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