Apex, an LA-based spacecraft manufacturing company, announced its $95 million Series B funding round. This funding round was led by XYZ Venture Capital (an early investor in the company) and co-led by CRV, along with new investors Upfront, 8VC, Toyota Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, Outsiders Fund, GSBackers, existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Shield Capital, J2 Ventures, Ravelin, angels Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), and Avalon Capital Group (private investment company founded by Gateway co-founder Ted Waitt).
Traditional buses are custom-built for every spacecraft, adding months or years to the process of getting payloads into orbit. And Apex enables customers to get to space faster, without the need for a bespoke bus for every launch with their productized platform. The funding, which enables them to increase production to meet customer demand, follows the successful launch of Apex’s first bus in March and a growing number of customers.
The funding also represents an unprecedented convergence of blue-chip institutional investors with funds known for backing the most consequential defense and public sector technology companies.
Satellite buses are the main set of components of any spacecraft, enabling it to move around, communicate, provide power, and more. And customers attach their payloads, such as sensors or radios, to the satellite bus, letting them accomplish their unique missions.
By creating a productized bus standard, Apex eliminates the need for highly customized satellite buses for each spacecraft. And this enables Apex to produce these solutions faster but also addresses a huge bottleneck in the industry by helping customers deploy and launch faster. This is why Apex already secured orders from a range of customers, including top-tier prime contractors.
With the U.S. Department of Defense and other customers setting high goals to launch thousands of new satellites, Apex’s bus technology is more essential than ever. Along with building new product lines and manufacturing at scale, Apex is also keen to hire the best talent working in both tech and aerospace and will be hiring for a number of roles this year.
This funding round comes as Apex approaches important milestones, including the opening of a new factory that will allow the company to dramatically step up production. Powered by Apex’s team that combines traditional aerospace expertise with new-space mentalities, the funding caps off a series of other major milestones. And these include a number Department of Defense direct contracts and multiple bus sales across both government and commercial customers, the most recent of which was NASA’s use of an Apex bus-powered Earth science mission.
This traction followed Apex’s successful March launch of its first bus, Aries SN1, which is now in orbit supporting several payloads. Its success represents the fastest build of any production small satellite bus.
KEY QUOTES:
“The West cannot achieve the capabilities we need in space at the necessary scale and speed without a productized approach to powering and supporting satellites. Coming on the heels of our first launch and numerous bus sales to commercial, government, and international customers, this fundraise is a vote of confidence in Apex’s vision and success. This new funding will help us both expand our family of productized satellite buses and produce them at industry-leading scale. Today’s aerospace and defense industries are hungry for solutions they can deploy in mass, and we’re here and ready to meet their needs.”
- Apex CEO and founder, Ian Cinnamon
“At XYZ, we’re constantly looking at the trends shaping defense, public sector, and aerospace needs, and it was clear to us that Apex was set up to serve truly momentous demand. Without the satellite-building capabilities Apex brings to the market, it would be impossible for this country to stay ahead of its security and commercial space goals. That’s why we’ve been so bullish from the earliest stage.”
- Ross Fubini, Managing Partner of XYZ Venture Capital
“Traditional bus manufacturing has become a bottleneck that inhibits humanity’s ability to get necessary capabilities on orbit; from the essentials for everyday operations to cutting-edge technology. Apex removes that bottleneck for legacy payload providers and those looking to make their mark in space.”
- Brittany Walker, General Partner at CRV
