TAMPA, Fla. — A San Francisco startup developing software to turn satellites into virtual data centers is among four companies to win funding from San José’s first city-run artificial intelligence incentive program.
One-year-old Satlyt will receive $25,000 from the initiative, San José announced Aug. 27.
Rama Afullo, Satlyt’s founder and CEO, said the funds will help expand its team ahead of a planned in-orbit demonstration later this year, following agreements with satellite operators in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa to validate runtime and onboard AI capabilities.
“Our tech lets satellites collaborate across orbits, run AI models locally and monetize unused onboard compute,” said Afullo, a former product manager for SpaceX’s Starlink low Earth orbit broadband constellation.
“Think of us as the above-cloud service provider (the next layer beyond Earth-based cloud, enabling real-time AI at the edge of orbit) with interoperability, real-time decision-making, and edge AI baked in.”
Satlyt has raised about $1 million in venture capital in addition to the San José grant.
“The grant will help us establish our initial office footprint in Downtown San José, support local hiring and accelerate key platform components that support city-aligned AI use cases like infrastructure monitoring, environmental resilience and low-latency data delivery from orbit,” Afullo added.
Other winners
Three other startups received $50,000 grants from the program, which drew more than 170 proposals:
- Elythea: An AI-driven maternal health company partnering with Medicaid to identify high-risk pregnancies early, using voice AI agents to proactively connect with patients.
- Metafoodx: An embodied AI platform for smart kitchens that aims to help restaurants cut waste and optimize operations.
- Clika: A hardware optimization company that compresses and compiles AI models into low-power, hardware-ready formats to improve accessibility and efficiency across edge devices.
All four winners will also receive professional services, including real estate consulting, legal support and IT expertise.
By investing in local startups and encouraging them to establish a presence in Downtown San José, Silicon Valley’s largest city aims to stimulate innovation while creating high-quality jobs.
“Some of society’s biggest challenges are also great opportunities for innovation and job creation,” San José Mayor Matt Mahan said.
“San Jose’s first-in-the-nation AI grant program is funding local startups building businesses that make our city stronger, safer and more vibrant for everyone.”
While San José has not formally launched a space-focused incentive program, the selection of Satlyt as an inaugural grant recipient signals that the area is now part of the city’s AI agenda.
There are currently 91 venture-backed AI startups with operations in San José, according to the CBRE Tech Talent Report, collectively valued at about $6 billion.