We closed a €28M Series B in May, led by Meridiaan Groeifonds with Nordkap following on. I want to write down what it has changed, partly for our own record and partly because founders considering the same decision rarely get an honest account.
What it changed: we are building our own ground station. That is a capital-intensive, multi-year commitment we could not have made from cash flow, and it will cut European delivery latency to under two hours. It also funded the TIDEWATCH team from four people to fourteen.
What it did not change: headcount growth is roughly the same as the previous two years. We did not go from 430 people to 700 in a year, because we cannot hire and integrate at that rate without breaking the thing that makes us worth investing in.
What it changed that I did not expect: the seriousness of the reporting cadence. We now produce a monthly pack that is genuinely useful for running the company, which we did not have before and should have.
What I would tell a founder: the money is easier to absorb than the expectations. Be very specific about what the money is for, in writing, before you take it.