China commercial space start-up raises $44m Series B

Additional participants included Qitu Capital, China Merchants Venture Capital, Qianhai Wand Fund, Qianhai Wutong M&A Fund, and an entity known as FinTrek Capital. According to a statement, it brings the company's total funding to date to RMB800 million.

The capital will be used to progress development of various rocket systems, the construction of an equipment manufacturing facility, and the hiring of new staff. The company is planning to realize two launches this year and build 50 rockets by 2020.

Founded in 2015, One Space operates across launch and satellite services, as well as various scientific R&D services for the aerospace and transportation industries. It launched China's first privately designed commercial rocket earlier this year.

Investment in space technology has been underpinned by overlapping trends of the traditional industry's privatization and the proliferation of business models related to big data computing. China is regarded as a rapidly growing start-up ecosystem developed through a combination of private and public interests.

Hong Kong-listed CICC operates in investment banking, equities and fixed income brokerage services, wealth management, and investment management, including private equity. Revenue increased 71% during 2017 to RMB15.3 billion while profit increased 52% to RMB2.8 billion. The firm claimed total assets of RMB238 billion at the end of 2017, representing a 130% increase on the prior year. 

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Industrials
• Technology
• Early-stage
• China
• CICC
• Venture