SpaceX, the US-based exploration services and technology provider backed by internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, is raising about $250m at a $36bn valuation, CNBC reported on Friday.
The prospective round is expected to close by the middle of next month and will includes an equivalent purchase offer for the company’s existing shareholders, according to people familiar with the matter.
SpaceX develops and builds spacecraft in addition to offering launch services to both government agency Nasa and private companies, charging upwards of $60m per rocket launch. It is also planning to move into private space flights for individual passengers with a long term goal of colonising other planets.
Reports in June 2019 suggested SpaceX was set to raise $314m at a $33.3bn pre-money valuation and a regulatory filing the following month revealed it had secured $214m from a single investor likely to be Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s Teachers Innovation Platform.
The company had previously closed a total of just over $1bn in funding in May 2019 from Baillie Gifford and unnamed existing backers that increased its funding to $3.18bn since it was founded in 2002, according to press reports and securities filings.
Google, now a subsidiary of Alphabet, invested $900m to lead a $1bn round for SpaceX in 2015 that also featured investment and financial services group Fidelity, at a $12bn valuation. Its earlier backers also include Rothenberg Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, DFJ, Capricorn and Founders Fund.
Photo courtesy of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
