French satellite manufacturer U-Space closed a €24M ($27.8M) Series A to boost its satellite manufacturing capacity and expand its global reach.
French crowdfunding VC platform Blast, the French Armed Forces’ Definvest fund (managed by Bpifrance), and Expansion Aerospace & Defence Ventures led the round, with further participation from Italy’s Primo Capital, France’s Karot Capital, ARIS, and Vertech Finance. The new capital follows a €7M ($8.1M) seed round U-Space raised in 2022.
Who are U: Founded in 2018, U-Space has spent most of its startuphood readying for rapid buildup of production. U-Space operates an 850 sq m clean room facility, called U-Zine, and plans to use the new funds to invest in “software developments” to considerably ramp up U-Zine’s output. The company is aiming to produce one satellite per week by 2027, and eventually, a satellite a day.
The investment is a direct response to increasing demand for new satellites in Europe, as well as the global community. U-Space plans to leverage its upcoming production capacity into new commercial opportunities in Asia and the Middle East.
And some demand is already rolling in. So far, U-Space has built three satellites operating in orbit. These are the bus of a CNES SSA satellite, an in-orbit demonstrator satellite, and the first sat fully designed, built, and operated by the company.
U-Space said that it has plans to produce and deliver 10 more sats in the coming year, with major contracts already signed with CNES and Safran.
Vive LEO: The funding announcement came the same day as French President Emmanuel Macron pledged €4.2B ($4.9B) in new funds for France’s military activities in space. President Macron said that the funds—which are set to be spent before 2030—would go toward strengthening the country’s resiliency in space, plus boosting capabilities in launch and SSA.
It is unclear how much U-Space stands to benefit from this increase in the French military space spending, but investors seem to believe that U-Space is perfectly positioned for a large slice of pie.
“U-Space actively contributes to…France’s sovereign ambitions in the space sector. With its initial successes paving the way for many more to come, it was only natural for Definvest to renew its support,” Bpifrance’s Investment Director François Charbonnier said in a statement.
