–BoostVC led $3M+ round, with participation from Wonder Ventures, Anorak Ventures, Geek Ventures, Space Cadets, and several angel investors including Max Haot, founder of Launcher
IRVINE, Calif., May 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TRL11, Inc. announced today that it has closed a pre-seed funding round of over $3 million, which enables expansion of their team, leasing of a facility, and launching two prototype video payloads to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). TRL11 aims to make full motion video solutions commonplace in all space applications.
“I’ve always been a sci-fi space nerd, but I never thought it could be a career path,” said Nicol Verheem, TRL11 Founder and CEO, who is a serial entrepreneur, and Technical Oscar™ and Emmy™ award winner. “However the recent explosive growth in the number of launches to Low Earth Orbit creates some real challenges and thus exciting new opportunities, some of which can best — or sometimes only — be solved with full motion video solutions in orbit.”
According to Verheem, typical video solutions in space are far behind those used in the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, which has invested billions of dollars in advancing sensors, edge processing, transmission, and the AI/ML of full motion video over the past few decades. The M&E industry supports a much higher volume of video products in circulation, and typically has quick refresh cycles which fuel rapid and ongoing innovation. This helps hone and mature video products over time, which explains why M&E is ahead of the Aerospace industry.
Under his lead, TRL11 will be bringing some of the best video solutions and expertise from M&E into the nascent space market, targeting on-orbit applications such as mission confirmation, space domain awareness, and proximity operations like docking or debris removal.
As the common phrase “space is hard” suggests, the operating environment is uniquely harsh, but many technologies and techniques used in media map well to space, and with the right modifications and the right support, can perform well in space.
“The bandwidth is obviously not there yet to support every one of the many applications of video that are possible in space, but it’ll come,” he continued. “We’ve been through similar transitions in other industries before, more than once. Time and time again, video finds a way to add new value to just about every industry on Earth. Space will be no different. That’s why I love video and why it will always continue to shine as a key enabling technology.”
About TRL11, Inc.
TRL11, Inc. designs and manufactures state-of-the-art full motion video solutions and the supporting subsystems for aerospace applications. Headquartered in Irvine, CA, the company was started in 2022 and launched the first prototypes to orbit in less than a year. The name TRL11 is meant to imply taking the first step toward the next chapter of space exploration.
Contact: media@trl11.com, or visit https://www.trl11.com
