Space exploration has gone from the realm of science fiction to an everyday necessity, improving internet access in remote areas and advancing climate monitoring. Launch capabilities have improved greatly too, which has also led founders to work on things like greener, alternative rocket fuels to reduce the environmental impact as we send more and more stuff into space.
All of this has caught the eye of investors. Spacetech startups have pulled in €874m from VCs so far this year, according to Sifted data.
Forty-two of the 58 deals have come at early stage (up to and including Series A), with an average cheque size of €4.2m. The largest early-stage deal to date is UK-based ICOMAT’s $22.5 million Series A, led by 8VC and the Nato Innovation Fund — the company manufactures lightweight structures for aerospace and automotive vehicles.
Growth funding — Series B and Series C rounds — accounts for 65% of total space investment in Europe this year. Germany leads the way with €251m, largely thanks to Munich-based space cargo startup The Exploration Company’s $160m (€152m) Series B, led by Balderton Capital and Plural.
Relevant resources:
- Briefing: Spacetech
- 2024 spacetech funding rounds (downloadable)
Here are five early-stage spacetech startups that told Sifted that they’re currently fundraising:
1/ Fossa Systems
Location: Madrid, Spain
Founded: 2022
Total funding: €10m
Last round: €6.3m Series A in April 2024
Investors: Indico Capital Partners, Nabtesco Technology Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, Sabadell Venture Capital, NewMind Venture and WISeKey
Fundraising: Currently raising a €20m Series B round, to be completed by Q2 2025
Space and telecommunications engineers Julián Fernández and Vicente González founded the company to provide satellite connectivity to remote and inaccessible areas. Since 2022, it has launched 18+ satellites and transferred more than 60k messages.
2/ ReOrbit
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Founded: 2019
Total funding: €6.78m
Last round: €6.78m seed in August 2023
Investors: Icebreaker VC, Inventure, Yes VC, 10x Founders and Expansion Ventures
Fundraising: Currently raising an undisclosed Series A round
Pitch deck
ReOrbit builds software-enabled satellites for secure communications, and was founded by Sethu Saveda Suvanam, who has a Phd in Information and Communication Technology from KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
3/ Spherical
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Founded: 2022
Total funding: €5.9m
Last round: €2.5k grant in October 2024
Investors: Antler, Uniiq, ESA BIC Noordwijk, Graduate Entrepreneur Fund, Rabobank, EIC Fund, EUSPA, Cassini Business Accelerator, Cassini Initiative and Nato Diana
Fundraising: Currently raising a €5m seed round, to be completed by Q3 2025
Founded by engineers Thomas Parry and Bastiaan Bom, Spherical specialises in designing semiconductors and developing advanced electronic subsystems for aerospace applications.
4/ Liftero
Location: Kraków, Poland
Founded: 2022
Total funding: €1.6m
Last round: €1.6m pre-seed in May 2023
Investors: BValue, Sunfish Partners, Freya Capital and Mateusz Kacwin
Fundraising: Currently raising a €2.8m seed round, to be completed by Q1 2025
Liftero was founded by Tomasz Palacz, who has a PhD in space propulsion, and engineer Przemysław Drożdż. The company provides satellite manufacturers with scalable, ready-to-integrate propulsion systems.
5/ Remos Space Systems
Location: Luleå, Sweden
Founded: 2021
Total funding: €150k
Last round: €150k pre-seed in May 2023
Investors: EESA BIC Sweden, Arctic Business Incubator, EUSPA, Cassini and Lunova
Fundraising: Currently raising a €1m seed round, to be completed by Q1 2025
Pitch deck
Moses Browne Mwakyanjala founded Remos with Thilini Aracchi and space engineer Petter Lindberg after completing his PhD in software defined radio technology. Remos provides virtual software for satellite ground operations.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/spacetech-startups-fundraising/
