E2MC Update On Space-Financing Rounds in November 2020

by Raphael Roettgen

November’s space financing activity was clearly dominated by the US$500 million round by American rocket company Relativity Space, known for its extensive use of 3D printing in its manufacturing process. The round, which was subscribed by existing and new investors, occurred at at an eye-watering (considering the company has not flown to orbit yet) post-money valuation of US$2.3 billion.

M&A continued with notable deals being Raytheon’s acquisition of Blue Canyon, Voyager’s of The Launch Company and Parson Corporation’s of Braxton Science & Technology Group.

Albeit we are nearing the end of 2020, the month of December looks promising: we are aware of several funding rounds about to be announced, in addition to other potential significant space newsflow that includes a likely test flight of SpaceX’s Starship and a second orbital attempt by VirginOrbit’s air-launched LauncherOne rocket.

Reminder: if you are following the new space sector and are looking for a concise introduction to its trends, main business activities, and possible outlook (and if you happen to speak German!) you may be interested in my new book I recently published with Spacewatch.Global – you can check it out here.

 

Company	US$m	Country	Subsector	Investors
Relativity Space	500.0	U.S.	Launch	3L Capital, Allen & Company LLC, Baillie Gifford, Bond, Elad Gil, Fidelity, General Catalyst, ICONIQ Capital, Jared Leto, K5 Global, Lee Fixel, Mark Cuban, Playground Global, Senator Investment Group, Spencer Rascoff, Tiger Global Management, Tribe Capital, XN
Galaxy Space	29.9	China	Launch, Satcomm	5Y Capital, CICC, Legend Capital, Nantong Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Investment fund, Shunwei Capital, Source Code Capital
Ursa Major	25.3	U.S.	Spacecraft components (engines)	N/A
Carbice Corp.	15.0	U.S.	Materials (thermal management)	Downing LLP, others
Kleos Space	13.8	Luxembourg	Remote sensing	N/A
Totum Labs	13.0	U.S.	Satcomm (IoT)	Heroic Ventures, Space Capital, Qamcom, Andrew Viterbi
Emxys	2.4	Spain	Spacecraft components	Mundi Ventures, CDTI
Satelligence	2.3	Netherlands	Remote sensing – downstream (forestry/agri)	4impact, Horizon 2020
Firehawk Aerospace	2.0	U.S.	Spacecraft components (engines)	Victorum Capital Club, Achieve Capital, Harlow Capital Management
HyImpulse	0.6	Germany	Launch	ESA
Isar Aerospace	0.6	Germany	Launch	ESA
RFA	0.6	Germany	Launch	ESA
Astrogate Labs	N/A	India	Satcomm (optical)	Speciale Invest, Anicut Angel Fund, SuprValue.vc, FirstCheque.vc
IBISA	N/A	Luxembourg	Remote sensing – downstream (insurance)	Draper University Ventures
Picogrid	N/A	U.S.	Satcomm (terminals)	N/A

Raphael Roettgen provides financial advice to and invests proprietary capital in space companies as a managing director and founder of E2MC. He also advises institutional investors and governments on space. Previously, Raphael has held senior roles at global investment banks and hedge funds and was also a fintech entrepreneur in Brazil. He holds degrees in finance from Wharton, machine learning from PUC-Rio and space studies from the International Space University, as well as the CFA and FRM charters.