Luxembourg spacetech scale-up OQ Technology has secured a €25 million venture debt loan through the European Investment Bank, aimed at accelerating R&D and rolling out its space-connectivity network.
Founded in Luxembourg in 2016 by engineer Omar Qaise, OQ Technology provides cellular connectivity from a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), allowing regular IoT devices and smartphones on Earth to send and receive basic mobile signals via satellites when no ground network is available. The technology has proved attractive for companies in sectors including telecommunications, energy, logistics, transport, maritime and agriculture, among others. As a result, it has customers in the Middle East, Latin America, Australia and Europe.
In 2019, OQ Technology was the first satellite operator in the world to demonstrate a cellular IoT connection from space and. Meanwhile, in 2025, it was the first European satellite operator to demonstrate a direct-to-device emergency broadcast message to unmodified smartphones.
The EIB financing also funds the development and launch of more than 20 software-defined, multi-band (S-band, Cband) satellites that will deliver direct-to-device (D2D) Internet-of-Things and smartphone services.
Funding
In its early years, OQ Tech received financial support from national and European Space programmes. In 2022, it secured €13M in VC investment from Wa’ed Ventures and Phaistos and has since raised more than €30M in total, based on disclosed sums.
“With the support of InvestEU, we can accelerate the deployment of our LEO satellite constellation and advance the world’s first commercial and European 5G D2D IoT and smartphone connectivity services (text, voice calls) from space,” OQ Technology CEO and founder Omar Qaise said, adding: “This funding enables us to scale our R&D efforts, complete our initial constellation, and deliver affordable, secure, and standards-based connectivity to governments, industries and communities in remote and underserved regions worldwide, while reinforcing Europe’s leadership in non-terrestrial networks and the New Space sector.”
The EIB financing forms part of the European Commission’s InvestEU initiative, a long-term funding tool helping companies generate additional investments in line with EU policy priorities.
“Space is a globally fast-growing sector and OQ Technology is onboard the race. Europe needs to capture this growth for its competitiveness, resilience and autonomy,” said European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius.
OQ Tech is one of a small number of Luxembourg firms to receive an EIB venture debt loan. In 2025, 3D scanner manufacturers Artec 3D secured a €15 million venture debt facility from the European Investment Bank under the InvestEU programme. In 2020, Earth observation firm Spire Global received a venture debt financing agreement with the EIB of up to €20 million in 2020. According to the EIB Group, in 2025 it invested more than €180 million in Luxembourgish projects, through its different products.
