The European Investment Bank (EIB) has extended €25 million ($29.5M) in venture debt to OQ Technology, a direct-to-device specialist satellite operator based in Luxembourg.

The funding requires that the company build and launch at least 20 satellites in the next two years. Additional financial terms of the debt agreement were not disclosed, but financing is backed by the InvestEU program, which mobilizes public and private money to accelerate strategic sectors.

“We are the only European player that is targeting D2D with good milestones achieved already,” Omar Qaise, founder and CEO of the company, told press. “Having support from two big European institutes [EIB and EIC] backing up our D2D sovereign constellation concept definitely signals that there is a direction towards this from Europe… so I believe there will be a lot [of demand] coming in.”

OQ Technology has committed to deploying C-band connectivity directly to smartphones in the middle of 2026. The company currently uses S-band for proprietary and mass-market, off-grid tracking and monitoring devices via ten Internet of Things (IoT) satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO).

In November last year, OQ successfully demonstrated the transmission of an emergency broadcast message to unmodified smartphones. At the close of 2025, OQ Technology’s revenue had increased 130 percent Year-over-Year.

The company pledges to use the money to double its employee base to over 100 by the end of 2026, and plans to hit 30 satellites in the next few years, with a long-term goal of a constellation comprising 100 D2D payloads across dedicated satellites and hosted payloads. D2D text applications will come online in 2026, with full voice connectivity coming in 2027 across Europe.

In 2022, OQ Technology raised €13m ($15) in its Series A funding round, co-led by Saudi energy group Aramco’s venture capital arm and a fund managed by Greek early investor 5G Ventures. The company sought more than double that in its Series B in 2024, drawing €30m ($35m), including a €15m (£17m) injection from the government initiative Luxembourg Space Sector Development (LSSD), which is co-run with the satellite operator giant SES.

SES has also invested in US-based D2D companies Lynk Global and Omnispace in its rush to get into the D2D market. With SpaceX, Kuiper, and a host of US operators leaping into D2D, murmurs abound that Europe may have missed its chance to get in on the trend.