Inversion—a company pioneering precision delivery on-demand from space to anywhere on Earth—announced a $44 million Series A funding round co-led by Spark Capital and Adjacent, with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Kindred Ventures, and Y Combinator. This brings Inversion’s total funding to $54 million, following an earlier $10 million seed round.
Inversion will use the funding to scale its operations and build Arc, its next-generation autonomous re-entry vehicle. Arc stores cargo in orbit and re-enters the atmosphere on demand to deliver to even the most remote parts of the globe.
Companies and governments have been chasing ever-faster delivery around the globe. While ships, aircraft, and other advancements have been transformative, terrestrial solutions have yet to crack delivery in minutes at scale. It is cost-prohibitive to build and maintain the global network of planes, warehouses, and trucks needed to enable global delivery in minutes.
Inversion is utilizing space to make deliveries in minutes, anywhere with autonomous re-entry vehicles that orbit the Earth and re-enter through the atmosphere on a moment’s notice to the planet’s toughest spots – at lower total cost than terrestrial solutions.
Along with their Series A funding round, Inversion reached significant milestones this summer. For example:
1.) SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force, awarded them $71 million to test and refine technologies that allow precision delivery on-demand from space to anywhere on Earth.
2.) The company’s Ray re-entry vehicle received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch and return, making Inversion the second company to be granted approval for re-entry under Part 450, which outlines regulatory requirements for commercial space transportation. And Ray will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 as part of the upcoming Transporter-12 Rideshare mission.
KEY QUOTES:
“Getting a package delivered from space anywhere in the world will fundamentally transform logistics, and autonomous re-entry vehicles are going to change the economics of delivery. Inversion’s progress since their seed round on both the vehicles and their customer interest is testament to what a singular company Inversion Space is turning into.”
– Nabeel Hyatt, general partner at Spark Capital
“SpaceX is significantly decreasing the cost of launching things into space and that opens up the opportunity for Inversion’s re-entry vehicles to deliver goods and gear anywhere at any time. I’ve been impressed with the team’s ability to build both the hardware and software needed in house with very limited resources by scoring the support from the Department of Defense and other strategic partners. With fresh funding and strong macro tailwinds, I am excited to join the Board as an Observer in this next chapter for the company.”
– Nico Wittenborn, founder of Adjacent
“Inversion’s innovative approach to on-demand delivery from space has the potential to revolutionize the way goods are transported and delivered globally. We’re excited to support them in their mission to make this vision a reality, unleashing the power of autonomous spacecraft technology to unlock new opportunities for industries and communities around the world.”
– Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures
“Space is currently used as a tool to deliver global internet connectivity and earth observation, both massive terrestrial existing markets. Inversion is introducing the third pillar – cargo delivery – transforming the $6 trillion logistics industry. We have proven our capabilities, and our Series A funding will help us iterate, scale, and build our next generation of autonomous re-entry vehicles. Transportation and logistics advancements have been transformative throughout history – think of the societal impact of ships, trains, and airplanes – and the ability to access anywhere on Earth in minutes will be just as groundbreaking.”
– Inversion co-founder and CEO Justin Fiaschetti
