(Boursier.com) — Expansion Ventures, a pan-European private venture capital firm dedicated to the emerging sectors of New Space and new air mobility, is launching its first closing operations for its Expansion fund, with a first tranche of 100 million euros.
Based in Paris and Stockholm, Expansion was co-founded by experienced entrepreneurs and aerospace experts -Charles Beigbeder, Ted Elvhage, Sandra Budimir and Ulf Palmnäs- as well as by Audaciaa French investment management company, having incubated this initiative through its deeptech program.
Expansion has obtained the support of leading investors, such as the European Investment Fund (EIF) which announced a significant commitment of 60 ME, within the framework of the Cassini financing mechanism of the European Commission (EC), but also the support of French industrial families and institutional investors.
The commitment of the EIF marks a major turning point for Expansion. Through this investment, it reaffirms its support for the New Space and new air mobility sectors. Although the Old Continent benefits from academic establishments of excellence and has many international industrial leaders, it must catch up with the United States in terms of venture capital. According to ESPI, the United States will have invested $6 billion in the New Space industry in 2022, compared to $1 billion for Europe.
Expansion, with the support of the EIF, aims to reduce this gap by providing the necessary financing and expertise to the best European entrepreneurs in the sector. With this first closing, Expansion is now among the funds supported by the EC’s Cassini initiative, the aim being to support the growth of New Space companies within the European Union (EU).
With this first closing, Expansion is one of the main European funds dedicated to the New Space and new air mobility sectors which support the ambition of European entrepreneurs, with 13 investments made to date.
Expansion aims for a final closing of €300 million by investing from seed to series A and B, with a portfolio of 40 companies. This first closing strengthens the financial capacity of the fund to invest in new companies and to reinvest in subsequent financing rounds of portfolio companies.
The team has identified 480 companies, and has already invested in 13 of them. Expansion will benefit from a solid springboard to implement its strategy by continuing its investments in the key areas of New Space and new air mobility.
Expansion’s key investment areas and portfolio are:
– Micro-launchs: Latitude & HyPrSpace
– Satellite constellations (manufacturing & operations): ReOrbit
– Exploitation of space data (earth observation, navigation and telecommunications): Miratlas
– On-orbit services (including cargo and space propulsion): Space Cargo Unlimited, The Exploration Company, ION-X & Arkadia
– Space monitoring: Aldoria & Look Up Space
– Space tourism: Zephalto
– Carbon-free aviation: Ascendance Flight Technologies
– Drones: EOS Technologies
– Materials, components, subsystems, systems and software with specific use cases in the aerospace and defense industries.