Sophia Space Raises $10M Seed Round to Advance Orbital AI Computing Infrastructure

Sophia Space has closed a $10 million seed round to accelerate development of its modular, AI-optimized orbital edge computing systems.

The round was led by Alpha Funds, KDDI Green Partners Fund, and Unlock Venture Partners. The capital will support continued engineering hires, advancement of proprietary thermal technologies, and scaling of the company’s next-generation in-space computing platform.

Founded by former NASA/JPL Fellow Dr. Leon Alkalai, the Pasadena-based startup is developing modular, solar-powered, passively cooled compute infrastructure designed specifically for the thermal, power, and radiation constraints of orbit. 

Its architecture enables AI inference, cloud-style workloads, and real-time data processing directly in space, reducing latency and minimizing bandwidth demands associated with downlinking large datasets to Earth.

At the core of Sophia Space’s offering is its TILE (Thermal-Integrated LEO Edge) platform, which integrates patented radiative cooling technology to enable scalable high-performance compute in orbit. 

The system is designed to support defense, civil, and commercial missions, including Earth observation, disaster response, maritime awareness, and energy infrastructure monitoring.

By processing data in situ, Sophia Space aims to address one of the fastest-growing bottlenecks in satellite operations: limited downlink capacity and delayed decision cycles. 

The company positions its orbital compute infrastructure as foundational for emerging commercial space stations, autonomous satellite networks, and future space-based data centers.

With fresh funding in place, Sophia Space plans to mature the TILE platform into mission-ready systems while forming strategic partnerships across the orbital computing ecosystem.

Image Credits: Sophia Space