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Space infrastructure company Orbital Loft raised $170 million in a Series C funding round led by Tikehau Capital and Axial PartnersIt is worth noting that this amount exceeds the total $160 million that the company has raised since its founding in 2017.
Loft Orbital does not disclose its valuation. According to PitchBook, the company was valued at $2021 million after a previous Series B round in 130 for $550 million.
Also joined the new round Bpifrance, Foundation capital, Temasek and Uncork Capital, bringing the total funding to $330 million.
The company didn't provide exact revenue figures, but co-founder and COO Alex Greenberg told TechCrunch that revenue has grown 100% for two consecutive years.
“We have achieved over $500 million in bookings, having raised only $160 million in this round. In an industry that requires significant capital investment, we are proud of our capital efficiency,” Greenberg added. “Our focus now is on profitability and achieving sustainable business growth.”
Orbital Loft has sold over 30 satellites. Its customers include: NASA, Microsoft, Anduril and BAE SystemsThe company has already carried out more than 25 missions using five launched satellites.
Founded in January 2017, the company’s mission is “to make it easier for organizations to launch and manage missions in space.” It provides mission deployment and operations services for clients.
Orbital Loft buys standard satellites from suppliers such as Airbus і LeoStella, adds customer payload to them, eliminating the need for them to purchase and maintain their own equipment and terrestrial networks.
“We don’t design satellites for specific missions — we customize existing components of our platforms. It’s like building with Lego,” Greenberg explained.
In addition, the company offers “virtual missions,” which allows customers to deploy their software applications on Loft satellites to utilize onboard sensors, analyze data in real time, and solve a wide range of tasks.
Last August, the company announced a joint venture with Marlan Space in Abu Dhabi, which has raised over $100 million to develop satellite manufacturing in the region. Loft also launched a satellite YAM-6, designed for artificial intelligence in space.
The new capital will be used to scale launches from a few satellites per year to ten or more, as well as to expand virtual mission capabilities and the use of AI in satellites. The company plans to develop an ecosystem of partners for AI applications.
