Over £40m Funding Secured By Orbex

26th Oct 2022
Over £40m Funding Secured By Orbex

Orbex, announced on 18th October that it has successfully secured funding to scale up its resources. The company, also known as Orbital Express Launch Ltd., secured approximately £40.4 million. Orbex is headquartered in Forres, Moray.

The aerospace launch company is preparing for the maiden flight of its two-stage Prime launch vehicle. The funding will support the Prime project as well future endeavours, which the firm has yet to elaborate on. 

Closing the Series C funding round

The Scottish National Investment Bank led the Series C funding round. SNIB was created two years ago to deliver environmental, social, and economic returns for Scotland via strategic investments in innovative projects and businesses. 

The round saw existing investors renew their commitment as well, including Octopus Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Heartcore Captial, and BGF. New investors include British entrepreneurs James and Philip Chambers, Verve ventures, The Danish Green Future Fund, and Jacobs.

Orbex is now one of Europe’s most well-funded launch startups

Only Isar Aerospace of Germany surpasses Orbex now in terms of funding. 

Back in 2018, Orbex secured £30 million from venture capital funds High-Tech Gründerfonds, Sunstone Technology Ventures, and the UK Space Agency. 

In 2020, a further £24 million was secured, with venture capital fund Octopus Ventures and UK investment firm BGF leading this round. 

In March 2021, around £7 million was given to Orbex as part of the ESA Boost! Programme, which is designed to foster sovereign commercial launch capabilities in Europe.

This means that Orbex’s total funding is around the £100 million mark with the latest round of funding.

The road to Prime’s launch

The launch of Prime is one of the main reasons why Orbex has been securing funding. This is a two-stage rocket, which uses renewable biofuel that has been developed by Calor Gas, a gas business located here in the UK. 

The use of this fuel enables Orbex to lower Prime’s carbon footprint by as much as 96 per cent in comparison to other launch vehicles of a similar size. 

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