Picone Advisory Group Facilitates Funding For ELSE Nanosats

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(Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois)—With strategic guidance from Picone Advisory Group, Swiss space startup ELSE has formed a strategic alliance with Thuraya Telecommunications Company, a mobile satellite service operator.

Signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allows both companies to collaborate and benefit from each other’s capabilities on multiple fronts including technical, regulatory, and sales and marketing. In addition to expediting access to the market, the agreement between Thuraya and ELSE extends both their product and service portfolios.

Picone Advisory Group had been retained by ELSE to assist the Swiss company acquire funding for its 64-nanosatellite constellation AstroCast. AstroCast is a network of nanosatellites that will provide global machine-to-machine (M2M) communication for businesses worldwide. The constellation will allow companies to affordably connect assets—whatever and wherever they are—to information systems through Internet of Things (IoT) services.

“We are pleased to have assisted ELSE in developing this significant strategic relationship with Thuraya,” said Christopher L. Picone, president of Picone Advisory Group. “This is a big step toward achieving ELSE’s goal of a first satellite launch in 2018.”

“As an established company, Thuraya brings experience, skill and a reputable legacy to the table,” said Fabien Jordan, co-founder and CEO of ELSE. “ELSE shall benefit greatly from its technology and distribution reach. We are very excited about the possibilities this alliance will create.”

The first satellites are scheduled for launch by 2018, as a demonstration mission, with a plan to have a total of 64 satellites in orbit by 2021. Once fully operational, the constellation will provide remote monitoring, geolocation services, predictive maintenance, and intelligent data gathering. The full scope of markets that will benefit from these capabilities include retail, agriculture, automotive, utilities, maritime, oil, and gas, among others.

In addition to building AstroCast, a network of low-earth-orbit (LEO) nanosatellites that will provide cost effective IoT and M2M services to global enterprises, the ELSE team has supported more than 10 European Space Agency (ESA) missions and seven nanosatellite missions. This mission is also supported by ESA through their ARTES program.

Thuraya Telecommunications Company is an industry leading MSS operator and a global telecommunications provider offering innovative communications solutions to a variety of sectors including energy, broadcast media, maritime, military and humanitarian NGO. Thuraya’s network enables clear communications and uninterrupted coverage across two thirds of the globe by satellite and across the whole planet through its unique GSM roaming capabilities. The company’s diverse range of mobile satellite handsets and broadband devices provide ease of use, value, quality, and efficiency.

ELSE is based in Lausanne, Switzerland and was founded in 2014 by the developers of SwissCube, one of the longest servicing nanosatellites in space.

Picone Advisory Group was called in to assist ELSE obtain financing for the AstroCast project. Based in Chicago’s western suburbs, the firm provides consulting services to an international client base in a wide variety of industry settings including: financial services, manufacturing, aerospace, building and construction, food and food service, homeland security and first response, healthcare, energy, real estate, wholesale and retail services, technology, telecommunications, and transportation.