Market Overview: Spacetech Deals We Liked In 2023
Market Overview: Spacetech Deals We Liked In 2023
Check out our deep dive into 36 spacetech Series A+ deals. Space stations, in-orbit transportation, space launches, and more that were closed in 2023.
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When people think about spacetech the first name coming to their mind is Elon Musk with his SpaceX and Starlink. One can also think of Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit), Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin), or Peter Beck (Rocket Lab). There are, however, more heroes who build up the aerospace sector. We’ve launched Space Ambition to show you more faces in the aerospace industry and to inspire the new wave of aerospace entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem builders.
When people think of an idea for a business, they need inspiring examples. Today, we’d like to showcase some interesting deals in the spacetech sector which were closed in 2023. We looked into 90+ Series A+ deals and selected the ones we liked. We believe post-series A deals show us the bets that VCs believe have a high chance of success.
Sci-Fi Deals
One can think that a typical spacetech startup operates in either Earth observation or space launch. In this section, we’d like to show you the deals that may sound like a Sci-Fi movie, but they are well-funded and have billion-dollar contracts. We will cover commercial space stations, robotics, and space-grade electronics. By the way, if you are curious to learn more about these topics, please, check out our previous articles about orbital stations and robotics.
Axiom Space (US, founded in 2016, 780 employees, total funding: $505M) develops a commercial space station in partnership with NASA and Thales Alenia Space. Its first module is planned to be launched in 2026 as a module for the International Space Station (ISS) that will later be detached for a separate station. The company has already launched 2 private manned missions to the ISS in 2022 and 2023. They also secured a $1.26B NASA contract for Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit. Their overall signed contracts are worth $2.2B. The company raised a $350M investment round in 2023 led by Saudi Arabia’s Aljazira Capital and Korean healthcare company Boryung Pharmaceutical. Axiom has various partners from luxury goods to a costume designer for a popular TV show “For All Mankind”. The company was founded by Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, an American-Armenian, a visionary entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, and Michael Suffredini who has 30+ years of experience in human space flights, including ISS program management.
Sierra Space (US, founded in 2021, 1700 employees, total funding: $1.7B) develops a commercial space station (Orbital Reef) and a reusable space vehicle (Dream Chaser) for delivery to the ISS. The company partners with Blue Origin and Boeing to bring the project to life. They also have $3.4B in active contracts and generated $260M in annual revenue in 2022. The startup has closed a $290M Series B round at a $5.3B valuation in 2023. It was founded by Eren Ozmen and Fatih Ozmen, the president, CEO, and co-owners of an aerospace and government contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation.
Voyager Space (US, founded in 2019, total funding: $177.8M) developed a commercial space station. The company was expanding aggressively by acquiring other startups and technologies in robotics, in-orbit servicing, new materials, space launches, commercial space infrastructure, satellite communication, etc. The company raised $80M in 2023 to continue developing its commercial space station Starlab through its subsidiary Nanoracks in partnership with Lockheed Martin. NASA has already awarded $160M for the project. The startup was founded by Dylan Taylor, a Managing Partner of a family office with a focus on Space and BioTech Morgan Brook Capital, and Matthew J. Kuta, a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and Duke University, certified Airline transport pilot.
GITAI (Japan, founded in 2016, 50 employees, total funding: $67M, Techstars alumnus) develops autonomous & teleoperation robots for the ISS and the lunar program. The company has a joint research contract with Toyota Motor Corporation for an R&D of a robotic arm for the “LUNAR CRUISER”. They are also among 14 companies (including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and Nokia) selected by DARPA for a 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) capability study. They have already successfully demonstrated the lunar base construction in a mock lunar surface environment and they are planning to send the rover to the Moon in 2026. The startup plans to ship its robot to the ISS in 2024. They raised a $45M Series B round in 2023. The company was founded by Sho Nakanose, an ambitious entrepreneur who has built and sold a company in India, an ex-IBM consultant, and a Singularity University graduate.
It’s also worth mentioning Ramon.Space (US, founded in 2004, 84 employees, total funding: $43.5M, raised $26M in 2023), that develops a low-power, reliable, and durable computing platform for in-orbit and deep space missions, and Zero-Error Systems (Singapore, founded in 2019, total funding: $9.3M, the last $7.5M round was led by Airbus Ventures in 2023) that addresses rising demand for radiation protection, power reliability, and data integrity solutions specifically created for low Earth orbit satellites, spacecrafts, landers, and a wide range of power management applications needed on Earth.
In-orbit Transportation, Refueling, De-orbiting, and Debris Removal Startups
Debris removal, in-orbit transportation, and space sustainability have been the niches we have been monitoring in 2023. Despite the regulation still not in place and satellite owners not having financial obligations to de-orbit their assets we saw numerous deals in these areas in 2023. It indicates that many VCs believe that the timing is right for such solutions. We will talk in this section about the deals which drew our attention. You can also check out our previous article on low-thrust satellite engines.
Astroscale (Japan, founded in 2013, 500+ employees, total funding: $376M) develops a suite of solutions in-orbit servicing, satellite life extension, and debris removal. The company raised $76M in 2023 from Mitsubishi Electric, Yusaku Maezawa, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Mitsubishi Corporation, Development Bank of Japan, and FEL Corporation.
Impulse Space (US, founded in 2021, 84 employees, total funding: $75M) develops orbital maneuvering vehicles for last-mile cargo delivery on low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit, Moon, and Mars. The company plans to launch its first refueling mission in 2025 and launch its first commercial mission to Mars in 2026. They raised $45M from RTX Ventures in 2023.
NorthStar Earth & Space (Canada, founded in 2015, 59 employees, total funding: $119.2M) plans to monitor all near-Earth satellites and debris using their own satellite constellation to provide navigation and tracking services to satellite operators. The startup closed a $35M round in 2023 from Cartesian Capital Group, LLC, (“Cartesian”), Telesystem Space Inc., and Luxembourg Future Fund.
Benchmark Space Systems (US, founded in 2017, 61 employees, total funding: $56M) designs and builds turn-key chemical, electric, and hybrid propulsion systems for CubeSats through EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) and Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTV) class spacecraft in low Earth, geostationary orbits, and beyond. They already have 4 systems, 7 thrusters in orbit, 4 missions launched, and 55 systems in production. The company closed a $33M round in 2023.
Orbit Fab (US, founded in 2018, 65 employees, total funding: $42.2M) provides solutions and services for in-space refueling of satellites. The company secured 3 missions worth $21M and raised a $28.5M round in 2023 from 8090 Industries, Stride Capital, Industrious Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Tribe Capital, Good Growth Capital, and Massive Capital Partners.
Here are also other smaller deals in the sector for your reference that caught our attention: Starfish Space (US, raised $14M from NfX and Toyota Ventures), D-Orbit (Italy, raised an $110M Series C), Atomos Space (US, raised $16.2M), Frontier Aerospace (the US, raised $10M), Digantara (India, raised $10M), Pale Blue (Japan, raised $7.5M), and High Earth Orbit Robotics (Australia, raised $8M, Y Combinator alumnus).
Old Good Space Launch Business
Based on our conversations with spacetech VCs, many of them avoid investing in launch companies because they believe that the niche is very competitive and many players will go bankrupt. Nonetheless, there were many deals to launch companies in all parts of the world in 2023. If you want to learn more about jet propulsion and space launch technologies, check out our previous articles.
Firefly Aerospace (US, founded in 2014, 700 employees, total funding: $571.6M) provides launching services to all types of orbits including the ones of the Moon. The company closed a $300M Series C at a $1.5B pre-money valuation in 2023 from AE Industrial Partners, LP, and Mitsui & Co.
Isar Aerospace (Germany, founded in 2018, 400+ employees, total funding: $350.6M) delivered launching services for small-class and medium-sized satellites (up to 1000+ kg of payload to low Earth orbit) to provide launch for Europe. The company raised $165M in 2023 from 7-Industries Holding, Bayern Kapital, Earlybird Venture Capital, HV Capital, Lakestar, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Porsche SE, UVC Partners, and Vsquared Ventures.
Galactic Energy Aerospace Technology (China, founded in 2018, total funding: $376.3M) provides commercial land and sea launches in China. The company raised $154M in 2023 from Ziyang Major Industry Equity Investment Fund.
Ursa Major (US, founded in 2015, 290 employees, total funding: $278.1M) provides reusable high-performing propulsion systems for space launch and hypersonics. The company raised $138M in 2023 from Explorer 1 Fund, Eclipse, and RTX Ventures.
Stoke Space (US, founded in 2019, 105 employees, total funding: $175M, Y Combinator alumnus) develops reusable rockets. The company raised a $100M Series B in 2023 from Industrious Ventures, the University of Michigan, Sparta Group, Long Journey, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, YCombinator, Point72 Ventures, NFX, MaC Ventures, Toyota Ventures, In-Q-Tel, and others.
The other 7 companies in the niche which secured funding in 2023 are CAS Space (China, raised $87M), The Exploration Company (Germany, raised $44M), Interstellar Technologies (Japan, raised $29.6M), Skyroot Aerospace (India, raised $27.5M), Agnikul (India, raised $26.7M), Space Pioneer (China, raised $14M), and SPACE WALKER (Japan, raised $5M).
Other Big Investment Rounds in 2023
Astranis (US, founded in 2015, 300+ employees, total funding: $400M+) develops a low-cost internet provider based on geostationary satellites for commercial and governmental needs. The company has sold services for nearly $1B over the past 2 years. It plans to launch 4 satellites in 2024. Startup has closed a $200M round in 2023 from Andreessen Horowitz in 2023.
True Anomaly (US, founded in 2022, 109 employees, total funding: $158M) develops autonomous spacecraft capable of rendezvous and proximity operations. These vehicles are equipped with a suite of sensors to act as a watchdog for space objects. The company raised a $100M Series B in Dec 2023 from Riot Ventures, Eclipse, ACME Capital, Menlo Ventures, Narya, 645 Ventures, Rocketship.vc, Champion Hill Ventures, and FiveNine Ventures. The previous $17M Series A was closed in Apr 2023.
The other notable deals in 2023 were Guoxing Aerospace (China, commercial satellite operator, raised $69M), Capella Space (US, on-demand 24/7 synthetic aperture radar data for government and commercial customers, raised $60M), Mino Space (China, satellite manufacturing, raised $60M), and GHGSat (Canada, greenhouse gas monitoring satellites, raised $44M).
We hope this deal overview will inspire you to contribute to the spacetech sector in 2024. We hail those of you who are ready to venture on a quest of launching a startup. Before you do, we recommend you to check out our interviews with Seraphim Space, Alpine Space Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, Primo Space, and Starburst. If you have already started, check out the list of SpaceTech accelerators, and conferences that could be instrumental in your journey.
We’d like to finish with a quote from Mark Watney from “The Martian”: “This is space. It doesn’t cooperate.” This is equally true for startup founders and investors who operate in the aerospace sector because it’s so hard to raise money for deep tech startups during the market downturns. This is why we are happy to see the heroes who continue their journey and succeed despite the headwinds. We at Space Ambition will be here for you in 2024, so if you need any assistance or you have any idea, please, shoot us an email via hello@spaceambition.org. We will try to help. “This is the way!”
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