New space startup with several Seattle ties lands $3.5M to develop orbital data centers

Sophia Space, a new venture working on orbital computing and data centers in space, raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding, the company announced Monday. The round will help accelerate Sophia’s development and deployment of its TILE platform, designed to enable data processing, AI acceleration, and edge computing for satellites, defense systems and commercial space stations. The goal is to reduce latency by moving compute closer to the source of data before delivering it where it is needed on Earth. Based in California and Seattle, Sophia was co-founded by Chairman Leon Alkalai, a retired fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; CEO… Read More

May 19, 2025 - 18:00

A rendering of an orbital data center and TILE platform from Sophia Space, designed to allow customers to analyze data where it is collected in space. (Sophia Space Image)

Sophia Space, a new venture working on orbital computing and data centers in space, raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding, the company announced Monday.

The round will help accelerate Sophia’s development and deployment of its TILE platform, designed to enable data processing, AI acceleration, and edge computing for satellites, defense systems and commercial space stations. The goal is to reduce latency by moving compute closer to the source of data before delivering it where it is needed on Earth.

Based in California and Seattle, Sophia was co-founded by Chairman Leon Alkalai, a retired fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; CEO Rob DeMillo, a veteran founder and technologist; and Chief Growth Officer Brian Monnin, who previously worked at Intel and Microsoft before founding Seattle startups Play Impossible and Quivr.

“We will be hiring in Seattle for sure given the deep talent in the AI compute and space ecosystem here,” Monnin told GeekWire, adding that it’s an “exciting time to be playing catch up” on the heels of China’s launch of the first 12 satellites of a planned 2,800-strong orbital supercomputer satellite network.

Sophia Space co-founders, from left: Leon Alkalai, Rob DeMillo and Brian Monnin. (Sophia Space Photos)

Sophia Space, which was incubated at Mandala Space Ventures, said in a news release that its TILE architecture features “solid-state, self-sustaining compute modules with space cooling and integrated solar power — offering a radiation-resistant, vendor-agnostic solution designed specifically for the harsh environment of space.”

With current artificial intelligence applications requiring vast energy resources from terrestrial data centers, multiple ventures are working on orbital data center solutions.

Redmond, Wash.-based Starcloud raised $10 million earlier this year for its space-based data centers. Axiom Space has been working on orbital data processing concepts for several years and is collaborating with Sophia to demonstrate the role ODCs can play in national defense architecture.

Space industry vet Rob Meyerson, the former president of Kent, Wash.-based Blue Origin, previously discussed the value of doing data compute and storage in space.

“We are at the dawn of a new era where our demand for AI technology should not come at the expense of our planetary health due to energy constraints,” Alkalai said in a statement. “Our modular Sophia TILEs unlock a future of scalable, energy-efficient, orbital compute infrastructure, from satellites and space stations to full-scale orbital data centers that will augment terrestrial data centers in the future. Doing so will help civil, defense, and commercial customers grow more rapidly without drawing from local energy grids or water supplies as is the case now.”

Sophia’s funding round was led by Unlock Ventures, an early stage firm co-headquartered in Seattle, with participation from angel investors and industry leaders.