Marble Imaging raises EUR 6m from Cherry Ventures for sovereign satellite imagery

Marble Imaging, a Bremen-based startup building a commercial Earth observation constellation, has raised EUR 6 million in a second seed close led by Cherry Ventures, Tech Funding News reported on 9 November 2026. The round follows a EUR 5.3 million seed led by High-Tech Gründerfonds in December 2025 and takes the total seed round to EUR 11.3 million. Dealroom also listed the round.

Including a EUR 650,000 pre-seed in 2024, Marble has raised around EUR 12 million in equity, plus more than EUR 10 million in non-dilutive funding from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency.

What Marble is building

Founded in 2022 by Alexander Epp, Robert Hook, Gopika Suresh and Raul Scarlat, Marble says it is building Germany's first commercial constellation of very high-resolution (VHR) Earth observation satellites. Its first satellite, Marble Sat-1, nicknamed Morgana, is built on a platform from Munich and Berlin-based Reflex Aerospace and will capture sub-metre images in visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared bands. The company has not disclosed the exact resolution.

According to Marble's newsroom, the satellite passed vibration testing and proto-flight qualification in October 2026. Hook told Tech Funding News it will be shipped to California in December for a planned February launch with SpaceX, followed by a six-month in-orbit demonstration that includes testing a laser data link from Odysseus Space before commercial operations begin. The company is targeting 30 satellites by 2030.

Sovereignty, launched from the US

The launch choice illustrates Europe's gap in access to space. Hook said Marble will rely on SpaceX for now because European launch opportunities are very limited. In September the company announced up to eight launches with German launch provider HyImpulse, whose SL1 orbital rocket has not yet flown.

Marble also works with Safran Reosc on a 50 cm optical payload for its next-generation satellites, according to its newsroom.

Customers and the software layer

Beyond imagery, Marble is building an AI analytics platform that combines data from several sources for defence, civil security and critical infrastructure customers. It can already detect ships and assess whether terrain is passable for vehicles, and its customer portal is live, the company told TFN.

Hook said revenue is in the several-million-euro range, with more than ten customers including government clients on multi-million-euro contracts, and a pipeline of data contracts worth over EUR 20 million. The team has grown from 17 to just under 40. Filip Dames, founding partner at Cherry Ventures, said: "Europe needs its own eyes in space, and Marble Imaging is building them."

The competitive picture

Marble enters a crowded and well-funded field. Planet Labs and Vantor lead in the US, while in Europe ICEYE, Xoople and Open Cosmos have raised large rounds this year, as TFN noted. Marble's case rests on European ownership, very high resolution and analytics sold to governments that want to reduce reliance on non-European data.

For founders in space and defence, the round shows how European deep-tech startups are financed today: modest equity rounds stacked on substantial public grants, with sovereignty as the commercial argument. The February launch will be the real test of whether the satellite works and the pipeline converts into contracts. Related coverage: TEKEVER's Danish expansion and EOS-X Space's USD 120m round.

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