Heirs Holdings chairman Tony Ulemelu (left)
Nigerian multimillionaire businessman Tony Elumelu has invested in US startup Planet Labs’ innovative satellite manufacturing technology through Heirs Holdings, the pan-African proprietary investment company he founded.
In a statement, Heirs Holdings said it is the only African investor in the San Francisco-based project.
“Planet Labs aims to transform the way imaging of the earth is carried out, through the introduction of ultra-small satellites called “doves.” These “doves” circle the planet in low orbit and are significantly cheaper to produce and deploy than existing technology. Moreover, as they orbit closer to the Earth, they are able to take higher-resolution images than traditional satellites,” the statement said.
Elumelu said his company is proud to be the only African investor in the project.
“As the only African investor in Planet Labs’ project, we are incredibly proud to have supported such an innovative and dynamic company, which has already achieved significant success,” he said. “As part of our business philosophy of Africapitalism, we are committed to supporting entrepreneurs and startups to enable them to bring scale to their projects and we look forward to following Planet Labs’ achievements over the coming years.”
Planet Labs has already achieved some significant milestones. In 2013 the company launched four satellites on three rockets and delivered their first fleet of 28 satellites, which are expected to head into space shortly.
Co-founder Robbie Schingler said: “We are very excited to welcome Heirs Holdings to our team of investors and thank them for their support. The funding that they and other partners provide is vital for our development as a company and we are particularly pleased to be working with an African company, as our technology has the potential to support Africa’s development by monitoring and mapping the continent’s natural resources and agriculture.”
