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Startup · United Kingdom

SuperSharp

HQ Cambridge, United KingdomFounded 201711-50 employeesUpdated

We are a University of Cambridge spin out company developing thermal infrared space telescopes for Earth Observation.

StartupSpace, launch and counterspace
Website
Total raised
Undisclosed
1 round
Last round
~$6.4M
Grant · Jul 31, 2024
Systems
3
Capabilities
1

Funding1 round

Equity raised
Undisclosed
Debt, secondaries & grants
~$6.4M
Latest
~$6.4MGrant · Jul 31, 2024

Raised counts equity rounds; debt, secondary sales and grants are totaled separately. Amounts in other currencies are converted at the announcement month's average rate. A ~ marks an estimated or converted amount.

Systems3

  • CASPERA compact thermal-imaging camera for space applications, in development.
    —
  • HibiscusAn unfolding thermal-imaging telescope for space applications, in development.
    —
  • SPIRITA thermal-infrared telescope in development for the THEOSCOPE mission.
    —

Newest unveiled first. Systems that belong to a government program link to the program page, where variants, costs and contracts are.

Capabilities1

  • Space, launch and counterspace
    Developer
    classify_sectors run 37, haiku, taxonomy 2026-10-18b: Develops thermal infrared space telescopes for Earth observation; no defense use is stated.
    —Reported

Maturity and TRL describe this organization's work; the field-wide maturity is on each technology's page.

People5

All 5 people →
People
PersonRole
George Hawker · LinkedIn ↗Co-Founder & Chief Engineering Officer
Ian Parry · LinkedIn ↗Co-Founder
Marco Gomez-Jenkins · LinkedIn ↗Co-Founder and CEO
Elizabeth Seward · LinkedIn ↗Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Ian Parry · LinkedIn ↗CTO

More in Space, Launch and Counterspace

All organizations in Space, launch and counterspace →

Sources8

Profile3

  1. 1
    DatabaseSixth-Domain public startups directory

    Sixth-Domain · Supports Organization · kind

    “{"group": "startups", "id": "6f7785b3-ee11-4756-8814-1b8fe500480f", "name": "SuperSharp"}”
  2. 2
    DatabaseSuperSharp - LinkedIn company profile

    LinkedIn · Supports Organization · country, Organization · employee range, Organization · founded year, Organization · linkedin url, Organization · ownership

    “country: GB”
  3. 3
    CompanyHome - Supersharp

    SuperSharp · Supports Organization · description, Organization · name, Organization · website

    “We are a University of Cambridge spin out company developing thermal infrared space telescopes for Earth Observation.”

Systems2

  1. 4
    CompanyElizabeth Seward Becomes SuperSharp CEO - Supersharp

    SuperSharp · Supports System

    “Flight models of the small form-factor camera CASPER, and SuperSharp’s flagship unfolding telescope, Hibiscus, are now in production”
  2. 5
    CompanySuperSharp Leads €4m THEOSCOPE Mission - Supersharp

    SuperSharp · Supports System

    “At its heart is SPIRIT, the Sharp Panoramic Infra-Red In-orbit Telescope. Designed and built by our team in Cambridge, it will deliver up to ten times the performance of current products, at lower cost.”

Funding2

  1. 6
    NewsUK Space Agency’s £5m to put SuperSharp Space Systems’ Hibiscus in orbit

    Cambridge Independent · Mar 27, 2025 · Supports Funding round

    “SuperSharp Space Systems has received a £5million award from the UK Space Agency”
  2. 7
    CompanyIoA spin-out SuperSharp awarded £5M grant

    Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge · Jul 31, 2024 · Supports Funding round · amount

    “IoA spin-out SuperSharp awarded £5M grant”

People1

  1. 8
    DatabaseSuperSharp - Crunchbase company profile

    Crunchbase · Supports Organization · country, Organization · employee range, Organization · hq city, Organization · linkedin url, Role

    “country: GB”

Each fact on this page is attached to the sources that support it. Archived copies are linked when we keep one.