Apex closed a $95M Series B this week to ramp up production of their Aries satellite bus and meet surging market demand, the company announced on Wednesday.
Existing investors at XYZ Ventures alongside new investors from Charles River Ventures led the round, which brings their total funding to over $125M. The round also included participation from Upfront, 8VC, Toyota Ventures, and angel investor Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood.
Tickets, please: In March, Apex launched its first satellite bus on SpaceX’s Transporter-10, carrying payloads from Booz Allen Hamilton, Scout Space Inc, and tier-one prime defense contractors to LEO. The mission proved that Apex could bring payloads to orbit much faster than bespoke or in-house alternatives.
The mission opened the floodgates for new customers, according to Ross Fubini, managing partner at XYZ Ventures. “The largest most important buyers of satellites in the world that are building massive constellations are looking for a product which is delivered on time, with the flexibility they need, that just works,” he told Payload.
Fully booked: With Aries already sold out into 2025, Apex plans to use the influx of cash to expand its production capabilities and talent pool to meet growing customer orders. This funding will allow the firm to:
- Increase the pace at which they can produce Aries buses from five in 2024 to up to 100 in 2026.
- Complete development and begin production of the Nova bus, which will be twice the size of Aries and able to carry payloads of up to 300 kg.
- Hire talent to double its workforce of ~50 staff by the end of 2024.
To meet these goals, Apex is building its first full-scale, adaptable production facility in Los Angeles. Factory One will come online in Q4 and be able to build all three of the company’s buses—the Aries, Nova, and Comet, from smallest to largest.
