Space: African start-up Satlyt raises $8 million to create data centers in orbit

The space technology start-up Satlyt, with its African headquarters based in Nairobi, has just raised $8 million in a seed funding round. According to reports by TechCabal, this operation was led by the Houston-based venture capital firm non sibi ventures, with support from several major investors such as Launch Africa Ventures, Enza Capital, Antler, and TLCOM.

Founded in 2024 by Kenyan-American entrepreneur Rama Afullo, Satlyt is developing software that allows satellites to run artificial intelligence applications and process data directly in space. This technology utilizes the computing capabilities already present on board spacecraft, thereby avoiding the need to systematically send all information back to Earth.

This innovation offers an alternative to the digital infrastructure deficit in Africa. The continent currently possesses less than 1% of the world's terrestrial data center capacity. While the construction of these ground-based structures costs between $10 million and $15 million per megawatt, Satlyt's solution optimizes hardware already in orbit to meet the growing digital demand.

The young company is already collaborating with prestigious institutions such as NASA and Google, having notably successfully tested the Gemma artificial intelligence model in orbit. On the African continent, Satlyt has already concluded memorandums of understanding with the Kenya Space Agency and Angola's National Space Program Management Office (GGPEN).

Our perspective

By positioning Africa in the space computing market, which is estimated to reach nearly $40 billion by 2030, Satlyt is laying the groundwork for true digital sovereignty. Enabling African engineers to design the software infrastructure of tomorrow ensures that the continent will no longer be a mere passive consumer, but a key player in the security and processing of its own data.