BMW i Ventures has invested in Skylo Technologies, a direct-to-device satellite connectivity service provider. The $37-million financing round was co-led by Intel Capital and Innovation Endeavors and joined by BMW i Ventures, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Seraphim Space, and Next47.

This new investment expands Skylo’s scale and business operations to better support smartphones, wearable OEMs, IoT devices, and mobile network operator customers. This is a major step in Skylo’s commitment to making standards based non-terrestrial networks (NTN) more accessible and efficient for numerous sectors, including consumer, automotive, agriculture, energy, transportation, and beyond.

We were impressed with Skylo’s global connectivity solution that enables ‘always-on, always-connected’ communication for the automotive industry. Skylo has a proven solution and team that is going to make satellite connectivity a new standard for the next generation of vehicles while keeping people safe and making their experiences seamless wherever they may go.

—Kasper Sage, Managing Partner at BMW i Ventures

Skylo has launched its initial service across US, Canada, and Europe, in partnership with major chipset makers including Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, and Sony, together with the world’s leading device OEMs and mobile carriers, such as Deutsche Telekom.

Skylo has successfully partnered with satellite operators to enable the service on dedicated, fully licensed spectrum and existing satellite assets. This allows terrestrial mobile carriers to take advantage of the most economical, scalable solution for direct-to-device connectivity, without sacrificing their own spectrum or changing their behavior in any way since Skylo’s network integrates as a standard roaming partner.

Skylo has built a strong ecosystem of OEMs, carriers, and supply chain partners that have brought the service to market.