Japan-headquartered satellite servicing provider Astroscale completed a $109m series F round yesterday that included insurance group Axa’s Life Insurance subsidiary, hiking its overall funding to $300m.
The round was led by a Japan-based investment vehicle called The Fund and also featured Seraphim Space Investment Trust, DNCA Finance’s Invest Beyond Global Leaders fund, Japan Growth Capital Investment Corporation and IE Fast And Excellent.
Energy & Environment Investment’s EEI Fund 4 filled out the investors with Innovation Engine, Opus, Y’s Investment, Solaris ESG Master Fund, Prelude Structured Alternatives Master Fund, Chiba Dojo and Yamauchi-No 10 Family Office.
Astroscale services orbital satellites as well as retrieving them when they are taken out of commission and clearing orbital debris. It also provides situational awareness to satellites can be tracked.
The business model in effect serves as an adjunct to a series of space technology companies that have sprung up in recent years, including satellite launch services provider SpaceX and internet satellite constellation developer OneWeb.
Nobu Okada, Astroscale’s founder and chief executive, said: “This latest round of funding will dramatically accelerate our ability to make on-orbit servicing routine by 2030.
“It also shows that investors around the world, acknowledge the tremendous potential in the emerging on-orbit servicing market, which will revolutionise the future of space.”
The company had raised $25m in a 2017 series C round featuring air carrier ANA Holdings, industrial machinery producer OSG and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, a subsidiary of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ, as well as aStart and existing backers Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) and Jafco.
Property developer Mitsubishi Estate and Koei Tecmo Capital, part of video game publisher Koei Tecmo, were both among the participants in Astroscale’s series C round, which closed at $80m in 2019.
Financial services firms Mizuho Bank, SBI and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation also took part, through Mizuho Growth Fund, SBI AI & Blockchain Fund and SMBC Venture Capital, as did INCJ, aStart, Jafco, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment, University of Tokyo’s UTokyo Innovation Platform and Joe Hirao.
Astroscale then added $51m in an October 2020 series E round led by aStart and backed by real estate developer Hulic, data centre manager I-Net, construction firm Shimizu and Sparx Innovation for Future’s Sparx Space Frontier Fund.
