Is Planet Labs (PL) Ready for Primetime as it Goes Public via DMYQ?

by | Nov 24, 2021

Earth Data company Planet Labs is going public thru dMY Technology IV (DMYQ) via a SPAC transaction. Founder and CEO Will Marshall, CFO Ashley Johnson, and dMY CEO Niccolo de Masi join us on the podcast to discuss Planet’s prospects and the SPAC transaction. 

Planet touts itself as the only company in the world that has the ability to do full daily earth scans, sometimes even twice a day. One can think of Planet as the “Bloomberg Terminal” for Earth data – allowing the consumer to consume their satellite imagery via their own computers. Planet serves numerous industry verticals and has aims for much more, and operates on a data subscription business model. 

Key Takeaways:

  • Not a “satellite company” –> Planet owns the raw satellite data that enables Planet and customers to create value-add data/analytics/services on top
  • De-risked technology (i.e. launched 200 satellites) and product-market fit (i.e. $100m revenue / +700 customers)
  • Subscription data business w/ strong renewal rates and account growth
  • Google partnership — Google outsources to them, sold their satellites to Planet, and now sells a bundle of Planet + Google Cloud
  • Capital raised will enable sales and marketing — team believes this is the key limiter on growth at this point
  • Product led by Kevin Weil –> previously at Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
  • Strong, serial sponsor in dMY Technology

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