Satellite Startup Xona Raises $250M at $2.45B Valuation for Commercial GPS Rival

California-based satellite startup Xona has raised a $250M Series D round at a $2.45B valuation, just seven months after closing its $170M Series C. Future Ventures, cofounded by early SpaceX backer and longtime board member Steve Jurvetson, led the round with a $78.5M investment, pushing Xona's total funding to over $570M. Xona began rolling out its commercial network on Tuesday by launching six satellites into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with beta testing expected to start early next year. The company plans to deploy an initial constellation of 258 low-orbit satellites called Pulsar to deliver stronger signals and centimeter-level positioning accuracy that resists radio jamming and spoofing. "As the world transitions from hands-on to hands-off, we need to go from kind of knowing what road you’re on to extremely reliably knowing what lane you’re in, to the point where you can trust taking your hands off the wheel." — Brian Manning, CEO of Xona.