by Raphael Roettgen
SPAC mergers with space companies made a comeback, with Planet’s and Satellogic’s announced transactions raising almost US$900 million*.
Purely private rounds added another US$366 million.
Also noteworthy were two public listings in the sector: (1) Seraphim Space Investment Trust raising GBP178.4 million for acquiring stakes held by Seraphim Capital in 15 space companies; and (2) Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala raising US$731m by selling shares in satcomm operator Yahsat.
Close to home, E2MC Ventures was happy to participate in Space Forge’s round.
Reminder: if you are following the new space sector and are looking for a concise introduction to its trends, main business activities, and possible outlook (and if you happen to speak German!) you may be interested in my new book I recently published with Spacewatch.Global – you can check it out here.
* Sum of cash in trust plus PIPE proceeds, assuming no redemptions
| Company | US$m | Country | Subsector | Investors |
| Planet | 545.0 (SPAC) | U.S. | Remote sensing | BlackRock, Koch Strategic Platforms, Marc Benioff TIME Ventures, Google
|
| Satellogic | 350.0 (SPAC) | Argentina | Remote sensing | Softbank, Cantor Fitzgerald, others
|
| Isar Aerospace | 75.0 | Germany | Launch | Apeiron Investment Group, Earlybird Venture Capital, HV Capital, Lakestar, Lombard Odier, Porsche Automobil Holding, Unternehmertum Venture Capital Partners, Vsquared Ventures
|
| SpaceIL | 70.0 | Israel | Lunar mission (non-for-profit) | Khan Foundation, Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation, Moshal Space Foundation, Entrée Capital
|
| GHGSat | 45.0 | Canada | Remote sensing | OGCI Climate Investments, Space Capital
|
| Cape Analytics | 44.0 | U.S. | Remote sensing – downstream | Aquiline Technology Growth, Brewer Lane Ventures, Formation 8, HSCM Bermuda, Pivot Investment Partners, State Auto Labs, State Farm Ventures, The Cincinnati Insurance Companies, The Hartford
|
| Accion Systems | 42.0 | U.S. | Spacecraft components | Tracker Capital Management
|
| Varda | 42.0 | U.S. | In-space manufacturing | Khosla Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund
|
| Space Pioneer / Beijing Tianbing Technology Co. | 30.0 | China | Launch | Zhangjiagang city investment fund, Jundu Investment, Zijin Investment
|
| Reaction Engines | 5.4 | UK | Launch | UK Space Agency (grant)
|
| R3-IoT | 4.3 | UK | Satcomm (IoT) | Space Capital, Ryan Johnson, Nathan Kundtz, Loren Padelford
|
| Q-CRTL | 3.3 | Australia | Remote sensing (quantum) | Australian federal government (grant)
|
| Digantara | 2.5 | India | SSA | Kalaari Capital
|
| Agile Space Industries | 1.8 (debt) | U.S. | Spacecraft components
|
Greenline Ventures |
| 3D Planeta | 1.0 | Canada | Remote sensing – downstream
|
Concrete Ventures, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation
|
| CILAS | NA | France | Spacecraft components
|
Lumibird
|
| Space Forge | NA | UK | In-space manufacturing
|
Aaron Schildkrout, Bristol Private Equity Club, Development Bank of Wales, Dylan Taylor, E2MC Ventures, George T Whitesides, Helios Capital, Newable Ventures, SpaceFund, Type One Ventures
|
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.
