The European Space Agency’s Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) are catalysts for innovation and fostering space related entrepreneurship. These centres provide essential support, resources and guidance to startups with groundbreaking ideas. This article highlights the entrepreneurial journey of Adriano Meta, a journey that began over 16 years ago at ESA BIC Noordwijk. In these early days of the ESA BIC network, Adriano laid the foundation for his company MetaSensing. Today, the company has locations across Europe and in Asia, and regularly completes significant contracts for governments and space agencies. Founder Adriano provides further details in this interview.
Originally published on the ESA Commercialisation Gateway website.
Growing alongside the ESA BIC network
With the help of satellites and aircraft, MetaSensing uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to generate images similar to the pictures taken by Earth observation satellites. Compared to visual imagery, SAR has one significant advantage: it can be done regardless of weather, meaning rain, clouds or nighttime pose no issue. Using different wavelengths, the applications of SAR can vary: “At low frequencies, radars can see what lies beneath forests or sand,” explains Adriano. “In contrast, high frequencies allow for very sharp images or the detection of moving targets.
Prior to founding MetaSensing, Adrian’s education and research had taken him across Europe, from Italy to Belgium to the Netherlands and Germany. All these years working on radars, it was clear to him that he wanted to find commercial applications of his research. After getting in contact with ESA, Adriano decided that ESA BIC Noordwijk was the perfect place to bring together his technical expertise and entrepreneurial ambitions.
Following a successful application, Adriano fondly recalls his early days in the incubator: “It was a very nice atmosphere with a lot of startups. That was very useful because it’s how we started to learn how to make better business plans, how to solve problems and exchange information and experiences.” Further developing his technology throughout MetaSensing’s participation in the programme, Adriano built his first radar during incubation. Using a small plane over Rotterdam, Adriano was able to collect his first images less than a year after starting the company.
“MetaSensing would have not been possible without ESA BIC Noordwijk”
Adriano Meta
A focus on high flying
MetaSensing’s connection with ESA did not end when the company graduated from ESA BIC Noordwijk. While steadily growing in size, the startup successfully applied to follow-up funding programmes at ESA next to completing airborne campaigns and simulations of potential new future satellites for ESA. Resulting missions over areas like the South Pole, Greenland, Svalbard archipelago or various deserts, remain a highlight for Adriano: “This is one of the great aspects of this job, you get to do a lot of really exciting work while combining different knowledge and flying in very extraordinary places sometimes.”
Over the years, MetaSensing’s work has remained focused, an aspect to which Adriano credits the company’s success. Starting with airborne and then ground-based radars, operating satellite SAR as the company does today was always Adriano’s goal. While minor deviations, such as radars for weather or monitoring mines, have helped grow the company, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly shaped MetaSensing shares Adriano: “A lot of budgets were capped or postponed, which forced us to focus.” The company ended up removing some of its activities, even though it was generating profits, to further focus their expertise.
Between technology and business
While keeping the company’s goals throughout the years, Adriano’s position within it has changed drastically. “In the beginning when you are just one person, you have to do everything. You are the engineer, you are the commercial person, the tax person, the business development person,” he recalls. These days, leading projects, Adriano still likes to check in with the technical side of things. He values having a technical background in his positions: “It is very important because one also shares the view and the passion in the company. MetaSensing is an engineering company done by engineering people.”
However, Adriano stresses that running a company requires much more than having technical know-how: “That’s fundamental, but it’s not sufficient. Establish your name, learn how to work with the partners, remain focused.” After having had the backing of investors for a while, Adriano decided to buy back all the shares, to be able to ensure independence and flexibility on his terms.
Collaborating with partners has always been an essential part of the work for Adriano, and he intends to keep it that way. While currently finalising further contracts, MetaSensing has ambitious plans of expanding its work into more countries. Adriano especially looks forward to working with local companies across the world, sharing approaches and collaborating on projects. Looking back at MetaSensing’s beginnings, he remains grateful for his time at ESA BIC Noordwijk: “It would have not been possible without the incubator.”
About: MetaSensing is an Italian–Dutch company focusing on advanced radar technology, which manufactures and operates radar sensors for different remote sensing applications. MetaSensing provides high-resolution radar sensors for mapping and surveillance with compact airborne radar sensors applying state-of-the-art synthetic aperture radar (SAR) techniques as well as ground-based sensors for detection, mapping and surveillance. In late 2017, MetaSensing kicked off its own satellite SAR payload at X band featuring 20 cm resolution. metasensing.com
This article was written for the occasion of the 20 years anniversary of ESA BIC and published on the ESA Commercialisation Gateway website. For more ESA BIC success stories, go to the LinkedIn group by clicking on the banner:
Prepare your space business idea for lift off!
Discover everything you need to know about the ESA BIC Noordwijk programme.
