Seattle startup Kapta Space just locked down $24 million to mass-produce a new breed of radar sensors that promise military-grade tracking from orbit at a fraction of the usual cost. The Series A haul pushes its total funding to $30 million and positions the company squarely in the race for classified defense contracts.
The investment lands as the Pacific Northwest cements its status as a commercial space hub. Hardware ventures cluster around heavyweights like SpaceX’s Starlink facility in Redmond and Amazon’s Leo constellation program. Kapta’s backing includes money from a metamaterials fund linked to Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold, a signal of the technology’s strategic appeal.
Founded in 2023 by CEO Milton Perque and Adam Bily, Kapta builds on proprietary Metamaterial Electronically Scanned Array architecture, known as MESA. The system delivers high-resolution ground tracking without the power drain, manufacturing headaches, or staggering price tags of legacy radar systems. The founders cut their teeth at Echodyne, another radar outfit. Perque previously worked at Metacept and Intellectual Ventures, while Bily logged time as an antenna engineer at Apple and Astranis.
The new capital will fund manufacturing scale-up, spaceflight qualification, and initial demonstration missions in orbit. Kapta’s software-driven design aims to make persistent satellite tracking viable across entire constellations. Spacecraft can steer beams rapidly, maintaining continuous custody of moving targets across air, sea, and land.
“Persistent awareness requires rethinking how radar operates at constellation scale,” Perque said in a release. “Traditional architectures were never built for these missions and their costs are prohibitive.”
Washington Harbour Partners, a defense tech investment firm, led the round. Bison Ventures co-led. Previous backer MetaVC Partners returned alongside MYDA Capital, Entrada Ventures, Aurelia Foundry, and Fitz Gate Ventures.
Mina Faltas, founder and CEO of Washington Harbour Partners, said Kapta’s modular, manufacturable approach “alters that equation” for electronically steerable radar. He predicted the company would become “a foundational supplier” to next-generation U.S. and allied space systems.
Kapta has also secured a $1.8 million Department of Defense grant and multiple classified moving target indication contracts, per the company. Those wins suggest the startup’s technology already resonates with national security buyers. The next milestone: proving it works in space.
