Exploration Company closed a $160 million Series B as a European startup looks to develop its own space capsule to compete SpaceXDragon.
He co-hosted the latest round Balderton capital AND Plural and brings TEC’s total funding to nearly $230 million per company.
“Over the last 12 months, we have achieved major operational and financial milestones and signed significant service agreements with both space agencies and commercial customers,” said CEO and co-founder Helene Huby in a statement. “This new funding is another step in increasing our ambition.”
The startup will use the fresh money to develop and test the next generation of its Nyx space capsule, a reusable, in-orbit and refillable spacecraft that may be launched from any heavy launcher and fly to any space station. The company says the capsule will give you the option to take each people and cargo to space and back. This would make it a competitor to SpaceX and several other corporations specializing in such transport.
Out of this world funds
The TEC raise is the last big round for the space startup this 12 months. So far in 2024, space startups have raised $7.7 billion in 338 rounds, according to Crunchbase data. This has already surpassed last 12 months’s total of $6.4 billion across 442 deals.
Just last week, in Cedar Park, Texas Aviation skylightspace transportation startup raised $175 million in Series D, led by: RPM ventures value over $2 billion.
While the dollar total is up from last 12 months, it is still down compared to 2021 and 2022, when space startups raised over $12 billion and $9 billion, respectively.