The Compression Company
Category: AI Infrastructure
An AI-driven, software-only compression platform designed to optimize satellite data transmission by reducing file sizes by over 95% at the source in orbit. The Compression Company was founded in 2025. The company is led by Michael Stanway. Based in Los Angeles, United States. Team size: 2-10. Total funding raised: $3.4M. Latest round: Pre-Seed. Key investors include Long Journey Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, Forward Deployed Venture Capital, Entrepreneurs First, Transpose Platform, Fractal Capital, Ventures Together.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- Los Angeles, United States
- Team size
- 2-10
- Total funding
- $3.4M
Value proposition
Solves the 'downlink bottleneck' by enabling satellites to transmit up to 20x more data using existing hardware, effectively unlocking the 98% of orbital data that is currently discarded due to bandwidth constraints.
Products and solutions
Orbital AI Compression Engine (Edge software for orbital GPUs), Ground-Station Data Reconstruction Suite, Geospatial Data Optimization API, High-Fidelity Signal Recovery Tools
Unique value
The technology is adapted from neurotechnology research at Imperial College London, applying algorithms originally designed for high-bandwidth biological data (brain tissue) to the challenges of space-to-earth communication.
Target customer
Satellite operators, Earth observation (EO) companies, geospatial intelligence firms, and government space agencies.
Industries served
Space Technology, Aerospace & Defense, Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT), Environmental & Climate Monitoring, Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics & Teleoperations, Drones, Medical Imaging
Technology advantage
A software-only approach that requires no hardware upgrades to existing satellite constellations. It allows for massive data reduction (95%+) while maintaining the data integrity required for advanced AI analysis on the ground.
How they differentiate
A software-only, context-aware AI platform that requires no hardware upgrades. It uses 'tiered' compression to reduce file sizes by 95%+ while preserving high-fidelity data in critical areas (e.g., ships) and aggressively compressing low-value data (e.g., clouds).
Main competitors
Spiral Blue, KP Labs, Ramon.Space
Key partnerships
Tilebox (in-orbit demonstration orchestration), DPhi Space (Clustergate-2 orbital compute platform), Imperial College London (Research Origin), Entrepreneurs First
Notable customers
Satellite Operators (Early Pilots), Earth Observation Companies
Major milestones
Founded in 2025 by Imperial College London researchers Michael Stanway (CEO) and Joe Griffith (CTO), Secured $3.4M Pre-Seed funding in February 2026 led by Long Journey Ventures, Shipped first orbital deployment for Q1 2026 IOD with Tilebox and DPhi Space on Clustergate-2
Growth metrics
Neurotechnology-origin AI compression; first orbital deployment shipped for Q1 2026 IOD with Tilebox/DPhi Space (Clustergate-2); GTM expanding beyond EO to AVs, robotics, drones, medical imaging.
Market positioning
Early-stage SpaceTech infrastructure challenger solving the 'downlink bottleneck' for satellite operators.
Geographic focus
United Kingdom, United States
Patents and IP
Proprietary AI-driven compression algorithms; specific patent filings are not publicly disclosed as of the latest funding announcement.
About Michael Stanway
Michael Stanway is the CEO and co-founder of The Compression Company. Before founding the startup, he was a researcher at Imperial College London specializing in neurotechnology. His work focused on keeping brain tissue alive outside the body, a process that generated massive, high-resolution data streams. The challenges he faced in managing these data bottlenecks inspired the development of AI-driven compression algorithms to solve similar issues in satellite data transmission.
Latest news about The Compression Company
- The Compression Company secured 3.4 million USD in pre-seed funding to eliminate the massive 98 percent gap of satellite data that never reaches Earth. 🛰️ By deploying neural networks directly onto or
- Imperial College alumni at The Compression Company secured 2.8 million Euro in pre-seed funding to deploy AI-driven data compression directly on satellites. Backed by early SpaceX investors Long Journ
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Official website: https://thecompressioncompany.com/