Axle Point Capital, a newly launched private investment firm based in Newport Beach, California, has closed its first major transaction by identifying and co-sponsoring a strategic investment in Odyssey Space Research, LLC, a provider of flight software and engineering services supporting U.S. space and defense programs.
The transaction was completed through Axle Point’s partnership with the ONE Bow River National Defense Fund, which provided the equity capital for the investment. Axle Point said the deal demonstrates its ability to source proprietary opportunities, perform diligence, and execute transactions in specialized markets across aerospace, defense, and government services, supported by relationships with institutional partners.
Odyssey Space Research delivers engineering and software services spanning flight software development, guidance, navigation and control, simulation, mission analysis, avionics integration and test, spaceflight simulation and analysis, and human spaceflight operations. The company’s software portfolio includes frameworks and tools intended to provide adaptable solutions for spacecraft ranging from small satellites to larger human rated systems. Odyssey supports mission profiles that include routine operations as well as higher complexity work such as rendezvous, docking, proximity operations, and crewed mission support.
Axle Point highlighted Odyssey’s recent momentum, including a NASA contract award in December 2025. Odyssey received the RPOC V contract, described as a five year agreement to support integrated guidance, navigation and control assessments, trajectory and flight software integration for commercial cargo and crew vehicles approaching the International Space Station, and work supporting the Orion spacecraft program.
Axle Point said it was founded to pursue investments in complex sectors that can be difficult to access, partnering with management teams to accelerate growth and build long term enterprise value. ONE Bow River National Defense Fund said it focuses on control oriented equity investments in founder led and management driven businesses aligned with U.S. defense readiness, space superiority, and national security infrastructure. Odyssey, founded in 2003, is headquartered near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and also has an office in Boulder, Colorado.
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“Axle Point Capital was founded to identify and unlock value in hard-to-access sectors like space and defense,” said Gerik Degner, CFA, Managing Partner. “We are thrilled to partner with ONE Bow River and the exceptional team at Odyssey and look forward to leveraging our sector expertise to help accelerate its growth and expand its impact on vital national space programs.”
Gerik Degner, CFA, Managing Partner, Axle Point Capital
“Odyssey represents the very best of innovation in spaceflight software and guidance, navigation, and control systems for manned and unmanned spaceflight and robotics. The Odyssey team is stellar from top to bottom,” added Kevin O’Neil, Chief Investment Officer of ONE Bow River.
Kevin O’Neil, Chief Investment Officer, ONE Bow River
“It is a privilege to partner with Axle Point, whose market understanding, strategic vision, and raw tenacity were pivotal in architecting this transaction and bode well for the valuation acceleration to come. This investment underscores our shared commitment to advancing technologies that are vital to our nation’s capabilities in space.”
Steven Joanis, Senior Managing Director, ONE Bow River
