Australian rocket developer gets $45m Series C
Australian rocket developer Gilmour Space Technologies has raised a A$61 million ($45 million) Series C round featuring local investors Blackbird Ventures and Main Sequence Ventures.
Australian superannuation funds Hostplus and HESTA also participated, as did Fine Structure Ventures, a US-based firm affiliated with Fidelity Investments. It is being touted as the largest-ever private equity investment in an Australian space company.
Total funding to date comes to A$87 million, including a A$19 million Series B in 2018 led by Main Sequence, which has strong ties with Australian science agency CSIRO. Blackbird led a Series A the prior year with support from 500 Startups.
Gilmour describes itself as Australia’s leading launch services company. It specializes in hybrid rockets, which use a mix of solid and non-solid propellants with a view to being safer and more economic than traditional chemical propulsion systems.
Founded in 2015, the company realized its first test flight in mid-2016 and has recently secured launch contracts with satellite players the likes of Momentus, Space Machines, and fellow Blackbird portfolio company Fleet. The idea is to tap rising global demand for small satellite services and orbital data infrastructure.
At the time of the Series B, Gilmour had planned to achieve a commercial launch by 2020 and create a rocket capable of transporting a 400-kilogram payload by 2021. According to a statement, the company now hopes to launch its first orbital rocket in 2022.
The latest funding will be used to develop manufacturing capabilities for both rockets and satellites, as well as to support the establishment of a commercial spaceport in Queensland. There are also plans to expand the 70-strong team to 120 in the next 12 months.
Australasia has a disproportionately robust space tech scene. In addition to Gilmour and Fleet, there is microsatellite developer Myriota, which raised about $19 million last year from a group including Hostplus, Main Sequence, and Boeing. The regional leader is New Zealand and US-based Rocket Lab, which has raised $215 million and recently confirmed plans to go public at a valuation of $4.1 billion.
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