Loft Orbital secures $170 million after reaching over $500 million in bookings.
Loft Orbital has secured $170 million in Series C funding to expand its satellite and space mission as a service offerings.
The space infrastructure company Loft Orbital has raised $170 million in a Series C funding round, jointly led by Tikehau Capital and Axial Partners. This amount is notably higher than the total of $160 million the company had collected since its founding in 2017. Loft Orbital chose not to disclose its current valuation; however, PitchBook reported that its valuation following the last fundraising in 2021, during a $130 million Series B round, was $550 million. Additionally, other investors such as Bpifrance, Foundation Capital, Temasek, and Uncork Capital also participated, bringing the total amount raised by the company to $330 million.
Although Loft did not provide specific revenue figures, co-founder and COO Alex Greenberg stated that the company has experienced 100% revenue growth for two consecutive years. “We have achieved over $500 million in bookings with only $160 million in capital raised before this Series C. In an industry known for its high capital requirements, we take pride in our capital efficiency,” commented Greenberg. The company is currently focused on achieving profitability and sustainability.
Loft Orbital has sold more than 30 satellites, with clients including NASA, Microsoft, Anduril, and BAE Systems, and claims to have conducted over 25 customer missions with the five satellites it has launched to date. Its mission is defined as "simplifying the process for organizations to deploy and operate missions in space." Loft handles the implementation and operation of its clients' missions as a service, acquiring standard satellites from suppliers such as Airbus and LeoStella and equipping them with its clients' payloads.
Greenberg explained that, unlike others in the industry, Loft does not design satellites for specific missions but configures existing components of its satellite platform, comparing them to Lego building blocks. Moreover, it provides "virtual missions" that allow clients to deploy their software applications on a Loft satellite to leverage onboard sensors and computing nodes, analyze data in real time, and explore various use cases.
Recently, the startup announced a joint venture with Marlan Space, based in Abu Dhabi, which raised over $100 million to enhance satellite manufacturing capabilities in the region. They have also launched YAM-6, a satellite intended to run artificial intelligence in space. Greenberg stated that they plan to use the new capital to scale their satellite launches from a few per year to more than ten annually, as well as expand their virtual missions and artificial intelligence business, where clients can create AI systems in their own cloud and deploy them on a Loft satellite. Their goal is to foster a partner ecosystem in AI applications.