The Exploration Company has raised $450 million in Series C funding, marking the largest Series C ever announced by a European space company and bringing its total funding secured to approximately $680 million.
The round was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico and the Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT, with participation from existing European investors including Balderton, Plural, Cherry and Red River West.
The company also described the financing as the largest funding round ever secured by an EU-headquartered company led by a female founder and CEO.
The new capital will primarily advance Nyx, The Exploration Company’s reusable spacecraft, toward a full-scale orbital demonstration that will include docking with the International Space Station and returning safely to Earth.
Nyx is designed as a reusable, launcher-agnostic spacecraft capable of carrying cargo to existing and future space stations, with the longer-term potential to transport crew.
The Series C will also accelerate development of Storm, the company’s reusable high-thrust rocket engine.
Storm uses liquid oxygen and methane propellants and a full-flow staged-combustion cycle. The Exploration Company said it represents Europe’s first reusable high-thrust engine using that architecture.
The engine is being developed as the propulsion foundation for a future reusable European super-heavy launcher capable of placing as much as 40 tons into low Earth orbit in reusable configuration.
The company plans a series of Storm development milestones, including pre-burner testing with a subscale thrust chamber in the coming months, an oxygen-rich power pack test and a workhorse engine test over the next several years.
The financing follows significant commercial progress for The Exploration Company, which has secured more than $2 billion in contracts and commitments globally across public-sector programs and commercial customers.
Those relationships include the European Space Agency and commercial space station operators.
The company has also become the first European space startup to sign a Space Act Agreement with NASA, working with the agency on technical, safety, qualification and certification activities related to future missions to the International Space Station and commercial stations.
The Series C expands The Exploration Company’s investor base across Europe and the U.S. while retaining a substantial European shareholder base.
As part of the financing, Alex Ferrara of Bessemer Venture Partners will join the company’s Board of Directors.
The Exploration Company employs more than 550 people across Europe, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates.
The new capital will support additional hiring and industrial expansion across engineering, manufacturing, propulsion, mission operations and program delivery.
Founded in 2021 by Hélène Huby and a team of aerospace veterans, The Exploration Company is building a broader reusable space transportation platform spanning spacecraft and propulsion systems for public agencies and commercial operators.
KEY QUOTES:
“Everyone on Earth depends on infrastructure in space, yet the ability to reach, supply and return from orbit remains rare,” said Hélène Huby, Founder and CEO of The Exploration Company. “This financing will allow us to execute with urgency: to bring Nyx to the International Space Station and safely back to Earth, while accelerating Storm, the high-thrust propulsion capability Europe needs for its future reusable heavy launcher. We are scaling from Europe with talent, customers and partners from around the world because the next generation of space transportation must be built to serve more nations, industries and people – and because our mission is to contribute to build a more collaborative and peaceful future in space.”
Hélène Huby, Founder and CEO of The Exploration Company
“Just before the International Space Summit in Paris, The Exploration Company has secured the largest Series C raised by a European space company. TEC’s transformational ambitions and excellence in execution, driven by the French German engine, are an inspiration for the space companies we build together in Europe.”
Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic
“This is a strong moment for Europe’s space industry. It shows what Europe can achieve when talent, ambition and innovation are matched with capital. A company built across several Member States and supported by the Scaleup Europe Fund has secured major financing to build critical space capabilities and scale them here in Europe. And its success sends an important message about women’s leadership in high technology.”
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
“Space sovereignty is increasingly critical for Europe’s national security, particularly as space becomes the infrastructure layer that the modern economy runs on. Europe cannot rent its way to owning that access”, said Alex Ferrara, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “Hélène and the team at The Exploration Company have shown they can execute against the hardest problems in the industry with Nyx while they continue to drive new innovation with Storm. We believe they have the potential to become one of the most important companies in Europe and globally, and we’re proud to continue to back the team.”
Alex Ferrara, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners
“Europe’s technological resilience will depend on its ability to turn world-class engineering into industrial capabilities at scale. By advancing Nyx and Storm, TEC is addressing two of the most important constraints in space transportation and developing technologies whose significance extends far beyond any single mission,” said Laura Connell, Managing Partner at Atomico. “Hélène and her exceptional team are proving that European companies can combine the ambition, expertise and execution needed to lead on the global stage.”
Laura Connell, Managing Partner at Atomico
“Hélène and the team have moved with extraordinary speed from ambition to real engineering and commercial execution. We’ve had the privilege of supporting that journey from an early stage through EQT Ventures. As access to space becomes increasingly critical infrastructure, building this capability in Europe while competing globally matters. We’re proud to continue supporting TEC’s next phase through the Scaleup Europe Fund,” said Ted Persson, Partner, EQT and Co-Head of the Scaleup Europe Fund.
Ted Persson, Partner at EQT and Co-Head of the Scaleup Europe Fund
