Kinéis

Kinéis is a French satellite IoT company founded in 2018 and headquartered in Toulouse, developing a 25-nanosatellite LEO constellation to provide global low-power IoT connectivity — commercializing and expanding the Argos satellite data collection heritage that France and the United States have operated cooperatively since 1978.

Kinéis was spun out of CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites), the French company that has operated the Argos system jointly with NOAA since 1978. Argos — originally a Doppler frequency-shift positioning and data collection system — has provided the foundational technology for tracking scientific buoys, wildlife (seabirds, seals, whales, sea turtles), weather stations, and fisheries vessels with tens of thousands of active Argos transmitters worldwide today. Kinéis modernizes this legacy with dedicated LEO nanosatellites offering substantially improved coverage frequency, two-way communication, and LoRa-compatible protocols that integrate with the ubiquitous commercial LoRa IoT sensor ecosystem.

Kinéis's 25-satellite constellation launched in batches aboard SpaceX Transporter rideshare missions, providing global coverage with contact windows every few hours for ground IoT devices. The two-way communication capability enables remote commands to be sent to sensors — enabling actuator control and configuration updates over satellite — alongside traditional uplink data collection. The constellation targets agricultural IoT networks, cold chain logistics monitoring, maritime vessel tracking, environmental sensor networks, and utilities remote monitoring.

Kinéis raised over €100 million in investment, supported by CNES (French National Centre for Space Studies) backing and backing from Bpifrance, CNP Assurances, and CLS as strategic shareholders.