Space Capital：2024年第一季度空间投资报告

Q12024

SPACE

Space

Q2024

1

IQ

Quarterly

Investment

Privatemarketequityinvestmentactivityandstartuptrendsin

theSpaceEconomy–fromtheinvestorsattheforefront

$286.0B

CumulativePrivateMarketEquityInvestmentsince2015

1,779

UniqueCompanies

$6.5B

Q1Investment

103

Q1NumberofCompaniesReceivingInvestment

Frontcoverimage:Starlinksatelliteswithdirect-to-cellcapability.

Photocredit:SpaceX.

©SpaceCapital2024

Q12024

WelcometotheQ12024editionoftheSpaceIQ.

ThemacromarketinQ1providedmanyreasonsforoptimismwithinflationnearingtheFed’s2%targetleadingtosignalsthatratecutsarecoming,astronglabormarket,andsoft-landing

expectationscombiningtosendpublicequitiestoall-timehighs.

Meanwhile,companiesacrossthespaceeconomyachievedmultiplemilestonesinQ1thatdemonstratedtechnical

proficiencyandinnovationaremovingbeyondSpaceXtoa

broadersetofrisingstars.With$6.5BinvestedinQ1,therehasnowbeen$286.0Binvestedinto1,779uniquespacecompaniessince2015.

ThetotalinvestmentinSatelliteinfrastructureoverthelast

decadeovertookLaunchforthefirsttimeinQ1signaling

thatthebalancehasshiftedfromgettingthingsintoorbit,

todevelopingcapabilitiesnowthatwe’rethere.Additionally,investmentingeospatialintelligence(GEOINT)Applications

overtooksatellitecommunications(SatCom)forthefirsttime,highlightingthegrowingdemandforgeospatialdatafrom

theseorbitalassets.Duringthequarter,morecuttingedgecapabilitycameonlinewiththelaunchofseveralimportantnewEarthobservationsatellitesincludingEDF’sMethaneSAT,Muon’sMuSat-2,andICEYE’sthreenewSARsats,whichwillcontributemeaningfulnewdatatothegrowingpipelinefromorbit.

Butthebiggestdevelopmentofthequarterfromabusiness

andinvestmentperspectivewasinSatCom.Starlinkandothernext-gensatellitesystemshavebeentheprimarydrivers

behindtherapiddeclineinsatellitecapacitypricing,triggeringastructuralshiftintheindustryawayfromtraditionalwholesalecapacityleasingtowardsmoreaffordableandaccessible

connectivityservices.Aftermorethanayearofpublic

evaluation,JohnDeereenteredintoanagreementwithStarlinktoprovidecutting-edgeSatComservicetofarmers.TheStarlinkteamsuccessfullytestedtheirnewDirecttoCellsatellitesusingT-MobilenetworkspectrumandtheFCCapprovedaregulatoryframeworkforallowingSpaceXandothersatelliteoperators

touseradiowavesfromterrestrialmobilepartners.AlsoinQ1SpaceXbegansellingsatellitelaserswhileAlyria,anAlphabetspinout,demonstrateditssoftwareplatformtomanagea

meshnetworkofcommunicationssatellites.Weareseeingtheemergenceofaubiquitousnetworkfabricthatisreshapingourmodernglobaleconomy.

Q1alsosawsignificantdevelopmentsinLaunchandEmergingIndustries.Twonewlaunchvehiclescameonline:forthe

firsttimeinmorethan50years,anAmericanspacecraftwas

launchedtowardthesurfaceofthemoonbyULA’snewVulcanrocket,whileOrienSpacelaunchedthemostpowerfulrocket

byaprivateChinesefirm.Additionally,UrsaMajor’sHadley

rocketengineflewforthefirsttime,poweringthefirstflight

ofStratolaunch’shypersonictestvehicle.With32launchesin

Q1SpaceXisonpacetobreaktheir2023record.AFalcon9

firststagemadearecord-tying19thflightwhenitlaunchedits13thbatchofStarlinksatellites.ItmostrecentlylaunchedtheIntuitiveMachines’($LUNR)commerciallunarlanderoncoursefortheMoon,whichculminatedinanear-successfullunar

landing.Starshipreachedorbitalvelocityina

successfulthird

testflight

ofthenextgenvehicle.Therateofprogressinthistestprogramistrulyastounding;SpaceXhasmoreboosters

andshipsreadytogoandexpectstoflythevehicle

ninetimes

thisyear

.AnotherSpaceCapitalportfoliocompanymaking

plasmainQ1wasVarda,whichbecamethefirstcommercial

entitytoreceiveareentrylicensetolandtheirspacecrafton

U.S.soil,whichdeliverednovelpharmaceuticalproductsforaneagercustomer.

RedditmayhaverejuvenatedtheIPOmarket,whichmaybodewellforspacecompanieslookingtotapthepublicmarkets.

SierraSpace,thefourthmostvaluableinfrastructurecompany,hasbegun

layingthegroundworkforanIPO

whileAstroscaleishopingtogopublicontheJapanexchangeasearlyasJune.Atthesametimeconsolidationcontinueswithquarterly

acquisitionvolumepickingupQoQ.AswelookaheadtoQ2,

we’llbewatchingforincreasedexitactivityastheFed’sinterest-ratepivotsignalsapotentialmarketrecoveryand,aspublic

multiplesoutpaceprivateones,wemayseeasurgeinprivatemarketvaluations.TherearealreadyseveralmoreacquisitionspendingincludingAnsys,ILCDover,andmoreincludingthe

reportedsaleofULA.®

3

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

InvestmentintheSpaceEconomy

CUMULATIVEPRIVATEMARKETEQUITYINVESTMENTFROM2015TOPRESENT

TOTALINVESTMENTBYINDUSTRY

2%

Satellites

$245.4B

Launch

$33.7B

EmergingIndustries

$3.7B

86%

12%

1%

3%

3%

3%

4%

5%

46%

28%

7%

TOTALINVESTMENTBYGEOGRAPHY

USA

China

SingaporeIndia

France

UK

IndonesiaCanada

Other1

TOTALINVESTMENTBYLAYERANNUALINVESTMENTBYLAYERApplications

Distribution

$7.8B

Applications

$202.1B

3%

27%

71%

Infrastructure

$76.1B

$50B

$40B

$30B

$20B

$10B

Distribution

Infrastructure

NumberofRounds

500

250

0

PRIOR

2008

iPhone3GequippedwithGPS

2009

SpaceXfirstsuccessfulcommerciallaunch

2014

Uberreaches1Mdailyusersand250+cities

iPhone14

equipped

withdirect

tophone

SatCom

service

SpaceX

landsorbitalbooster,

ushersin

reusability

PlanetLabsimages

entire

Earthdaily

SpaceX

launchescrewmission,ushersincommercialspaceflight

2005

GoogleMapslaunched

1978

NAVSTARIGPSlaunched

1984

FirstCommercialGPSReceivers

2001

gpsOnesupportslaunchofGPSonmobiledevices

1.“Other”consistsofcountrieseachrepresentinglessthan1%offunding.

4

YeartoDate

PRIVATEMARKETEQUITYINVESTMENT

$6.5B

NUMBEROFROUNDS

103

EARLY-STAGEINVESTMENT2EARLY-STAGEROUNDS

$1.5B66

BYSTAGE•INVESTMENTAMOUNT

BYSTAGE•ROUNDSHARE

$3B

$2B

$1B

$0

SeedSeriesASeriesBSeriesCLateStage3Other4

2%

15%

36%

10%

10%

28%

Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

LateStage3

Other4

InQ1,investmentintheSpaceEconomygrew33%QoQ,totaling$6.5Bacross103companies.Late-stageandothercompaniesreceived$4.3B,accountingfor66%ofthetotal.Growth-stageinvestmentsdecreased51%YoYcomparedtoQ1’23.WhileSeriesAroundsrecordedthethirdhighestquarterlyinflowssince2015,thisuptickwasdrivenbyasinglelargeroundandshouldn’tbeinterpretedasabroaderaccelerationatthisstage.

Early-stagedealactivityremainshealthywith64%ofthetotalroundshare.Growth-stageroundsdeclined36%YoYaftershowingsignsofrecoveryin2023.Late-stageandotherroundsremainedelevated,recordingthesamenumberofroundswiththepreviousquarter.

BYLAYER•INVESTMENTAMOUNTANDDEALSBYQUARTER

$8B

$6B

$4B

$2B

$0

2023Q12023Q22023Q32023Q42024Q1

100

50

0

Applications

Distribution

Infrastructure

NumberofRounds

NUMBEROFROUNDSINQ1

103

Infrastructurecompaniescontinuedtoattractinvestmentwith59%YoYincrease.Applicationsinvestmentsloggeditsbestquartersinceearly-2022with$3.7B,drivenbyonemajortransaction.Despitethisuptick,Applicationscompaniescontinuetostruggletoraisecapital.

2.Early-stageconsistsofPre-Seed,Seed,andSeriesArounds.

3.Late-stageconsistsofSeriesD+andLiquidityRounds.

5

4.Othersincludenon-traditionalinvestmentsliketake-privatetransactionsandself-capitalizationfromJeffBezos,ElonMusk,RichardBranson,andRobertBigelowwhoareclassifiedasIndividualinvestorsprovidinglargeinvestments(hundredsofmillions)intheirowncompaniesthroughunclassifiedrounds.

Infrastructure

Hardwareandsoftwaretobuild,launch,andoperatespace-basedassets

ANNUALINVESTMENTSOURCE

CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTGEOGRAPHY

2%

6%

USA

5%

10%

ChinaFranceUK

JapanOther1

11%

66%

TheU.S.hasdominatedglobalInfrastructureinvestmentoverthepastdecade,securing66%oftotalcapital,withSpaceXandBlueOriginaccountingfor31%oftheU.S.total.Chinaisinsecondplace,poisedtorapidlyexpanditsshareinthecomingyearswithacceleratinginvestmentsinSmallLaunch,SatCom,andAdvancedManufacturingsectors.Francetrailedcloselyasthethird,afterovertakingtheUKthroughthesuccessfulmergerofOneWebandEutelsat.

BYSECTOR•CUMULATIVEROUNDSHARE

$20B

$15B

$10B

$5B

$0

Other5

Corporate

VentureCapital

Angel/Individual

NumberofRounds

300

200

100

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Infrastructureinvestmentremainedstrongat$2.7B.VCinvestorsaccountedfor56%ofcapitaldeployedduringthequarter,significantlyexceedingtheir40%averagecontributionoverthepastdecade.Angel/Individualinvestorscontinuetoplayanoutsizedroleaccountingfornearly20%offundingsince2015,drivenbyJeffBezos’continuedself-fundingofBlueOrigin.

BYSECTOR6•CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTAMOUNT

$40B

$30B

$20B

$10B

$0

400

NumberofRounds

300

200

EmergingIndustries

100

Moreonpg8-9

0

Satellites

Launch

Stations

Logistics

Lunar

Industrials

MediumLaunch

25rounds

HeavyLaunch

44rounds

Manufacturing&

Components

502rounds

SmallLaunch

296rounds

GPS

39rounds

Lunar74rounds

SatCom

175rounds

Industrials76rounds

Stations104rounds

GEOINT

220rounds

Logistics117rounds

Launch

367rounds

SpaceportOperations

1rounds

Satellites

936rounds

LaunchBrokerage

1rounds

Since2015,theSatellitesindustryhasseenthelargestamountofdealactivitymakingup56%ofthetotalroundshare.Zoomingin,themostactivesectorshavebeenSatelliteManufacturing,SmallLaunch,andGEOINT,representing61%ofdealsinthelastdecade.Q1mirroredthistrendwiththeaforementionedsectorscontributingto62%ofthetotalrounds.

SatelliteindustryinvestmentsoverthepastdecadehaveoutpacedLaunchforthefirsttime.Since2015,threetimesmoreSatellitescompanieshavereceivedinvestmentsthanLaunch,thistrendindicatesasustainedinterestinfoundersbuildingspacecraftandtalentmovingtowardsadvancedsensingandconnectivity.WithintheSatelliteindustry,SatComleadsinvestmentwith$15.6BwithGEOINTfollowingat$11.6B.Launchreceived$33.7Boverthesameperiod,whereSpaceXandBlueOriginaccountfor68%ofthistotal.

6

5.“Other”includesFoundations,PrivateEquity,SovereignWealthFunds,MutualFunds,CrowdPlatforms.

6.See

UnpackingtheEmergingIndustries

blogpost

TOTALEQUITYINVESTMENTSINCE2015

$76.1B

BYSTAGE•CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTAMOUNT

$30B

$20B

$10B

$0B

SeedSeriesASeriesBSeriesCLateStage3Other

4

Early-stageInfrastructureinvestmentsinQ1reached$1.1B,thehighestquarterlyinflowinthepastdecadeforthisstage,drivenbySeriesAroundsinSatellitesthatincludedadiversemixofSatCom,GEOINTandSatelliteManufacturingcompanies.We’reseeingapatternwhereraisingaSeriesCroundhasbeenchallengingandappearstobeariteofpassage.

TOPDEALSINTHEQUARTER

BYSTAGE•ANNUALROUNDSHARE

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

100%

Other4

LateStage3SeriesC

50%

SeriesBSeriesASeed

0%

Whileearly-stageinvestmentsrepresented69%ofallroundsinthepastdecade,theirsharedecreasedfroma75%high.Thisindicatesamaturinginvestmentlandscapeandasgrowthandlate-stagedealsrepresentalargershare.Thisshiftmayalsobeattributedtoinvestorsfocusingonexistingportfoliocompaniesratherthanaddingnewinvestments,whichdecreasesthenumberofearly-stagerounds.

EXITSBYINDUSTRY

$50B

$40B

$30B

$20B

$10B

$0

30

20

10

0

NumberofRounds

Stations

Satellites

Lunar

Logistics

Launch

Industrials

COMPANY

ROUND

AMOUNT

ShanghaiSpacecomSatelliteTechnology

SeriesA

$943M

BlueOrigin

SelfCapitalization

$500M

RocketLab(NAS:RKLB)

PIPE

$355M

ASTSpaceMobile

PIPE

$155M

Unseenlabs

SeriesC

$92M

OrienSpace

SeriesB

$84M

IntuitiveMachines

PIPE

$61M

K2Space

SeriesA

$50M

ABLSpaceSystems

SeriesC

$41M

GilmourSpace

Technologies

SeriesD

$36M

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Q1saw$5.6BrealizedthroughthreeInfrastructureexits,largelyduetoBAESystems’acquisitionofBallAerospace.BlueHalo,anemergingleaderinthespaceanddefensedomain,acquiredEqlipse,ayoungcompanyspecializingincyberandsignalsintelligence.Thisfitstherecenttrendofwell-fundedcompaniesacquiringunique,smallerentitiestodifferentiateitsoffering.Overthepastdecade,acquisitionshaveconstituted88%ofInfrastructureexitvalueand76%oftherounds.

Thetop10dealsinQ1totaled$2.3BwiththeSatelliteindustryreceiving54%ofthetotal.China’sSatComcompanyShanghaiSpacecomSatelliteTechnology,whichhasraised$943MSeriesAtofundtheconstructionofits12000-satellite“G60”megaconstellationinLEO,wasanoutlier.TheLaunchindustryledintermsofroundshareswithfivetransactions.Amongthelist,sixarefromtheU.S.,alongwithtwofromChina,onefromFrance,andonefromAustralia.

7

EmergingIndustries

SubsetofInfrastructureexcludingLaunchandSatellitesindustries

ANNUALINVESTMENTSOURCE

CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTGEOGRAPHY

1%

1%

2%

5%

USA

13%

JapanItaly

SingaporeCanada

Other1

78%

U.S.companiesraisedthemajorityofcapitalacrosstheEmergingIndustriesat78%overthepastdecade.ThisisdrivenbySierraNevada’sspin-off,SierraSpace,ventureinvestmentsinAxiomSpace,ICON,Varda,TrueAnomaly,LeoLabsandself-capitalizationofVast.Japanaccountsfor13%withinvestmentsinAstroscale,iSpace,andGITAI.Italy,Singapore,Canada,GermanyfollowswithnotableinvestmentsincludingD-Orbit,Qosmosys,NorthStarEarthandSpace,andTheExplorationCompany.

BYSECTOR•CUMULATIVEROUNDSHARE

$3B

$2B

$1B

$0

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Other5

Corporate

VentureCapital

Angel/Individual

NumberofRounds

50

0

TencompaniesacrosstheEmergingIndustriesraisedatotal$0.1BinQ1.Since2015,$6.8Bhasbeeninvestedinthiscategoryacross146uniquecompanies.VCInvestorsaccountedfor46%ofcapitaldeployed,followedbyCorporateat18%,andPrivateEquityat16%.Notably,Angelinvestorsalsocontributedasignificantsharewith10%.

BYSECTOR6•CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTAMOUNT

$4B

$3B

$2B

$1B

$0

NumberofRounds

50

40

30

SpaceSituational

Awareness

47rounds

Construction

16rounds

DeepSpaceSatellites

18rounds

Transport

42rounds

OnOrbitServicing

58rounds

Habitats

45rounds

Mining&Minerals

19rounds

EnergyGeneration

&Storage

23rounds

Services

59rounds

Manufacturing&

Assembly

32rounds

DebrisMitigation

12rounds

Lunar

74rounds

Industrials

76rounds

Stations

104rounds

Logistics

117rounds

Logisticshasledroundactivityeveryyearsince2019.ThistrendcontinuedinQ1withLogisticsclosingfiverounds.Consequently,Logisticsnowaccountsfor32%ofthetotalroundshareoverthepastdecade,surpassingStationsat28%.ThisemphasizestheincreasinglycriticalroletheLogisticsindustryplaysincultivatingasustainableandvibrantin-spaceeconomy.

StationsLogisticsLunarIndustrials

Overthepastdecade,Stationssecuredthemostfundingat$3.7B,followedbyLogisticsat$1.6B,Lunarat$1.0B,andIndustrialsat$0.5B.Zoomingin,theleadingsectorsincludeHabitats($3.3B),On-OrbitServicing($1.0B),Transport($0.5B),andManufacturingandAssembly($0.3B),respectively.ThecompanieswiththelargesttotalinvestmentsincludeAxiomSpaceandSierraSpaceinStations,AstroscaleandD-OrbitinLogistics,ICONandiSpaceinLunar,VardaSpaceandRedwire(NYS:RDW)inIndustrials.

TOTALEQUITYINVESTMENTSINCE2015

$6.8Bof$76.1B

BYSTAGE•CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTAMOUNT

$2B

$1B

$0

SeedSeriesASeriesBSeriesCLateStage3Other

4

Since2015,growth-stagefunding($1.9B)hasoutpacedearly-stageinvestment($1.7B).Late-stageinvestment($2.6B)isheavilyconcentrated(69%)inasinglecompany,SierraSpace.While2023sawnearrecordinvestment,continuedgrowthwilldependonlargegovernmentcontractsbeingawardedtostartupstounlockmoresubstantial,later-stageroundsandelevatebroaderinvestorinterest.

TOPDEALSINTHEQUARTER

BYSTAGE•CUMULATIVEROUNDSHARE

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

100%

Other4

LateStage3SeriesC

SeriesB

SeriesA

Seed

50%

0%

Early-stageroundsaccountedfor80%oftotalequityinQ1.Ahandfulofcompanies,includingSpaceCapitalportfoliocompaniesLeoLabs,havebeenabletogrowsignificantlywithacceleratingcommercialrevenuesaswellasgovernmentcontracts.Sustainedmomentumin2024,thatbuildsonlastyear’srecordactivity,willrequirestrongrevenuegrowthtodemonstrateviabilityofthesenascentmarkets.

EXITSBYINDUSTRY

$0.6B

$0.4B

$0.2B

$0

StationsLunar

Logistics

Industrials

NumberofRounds

5

4

3

2

1

COMPANY

IntuitiveMachines

LeoLabs

Interlune

Aldoria

ATMOSSpaceCargoSanyuanAerospace

KursOrbital

ApisCor

BlueSkiesSpace

InfiniteOrbits

ROUND

PIPE

SeriesB

Seed

SeriesA

Seed

Seed

Seed

SeriesA

Seed

Seed

AMOUNT

$61M$29M$18M$11M$6M$5M$4M$4M$3M

$1M

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

LunarinvestmentsdominatedQ1accountingfor58%ofthecapitalraised.ThiswasledbyIntuitiveMachines,whichrecentlymadehistoryasthefirstprivatecompanytolandontheMoon.Interlune,anin-spaceresourceminingstartupfoundedbyformerBlueOriginandRocketLabexecutives,contributedtothiswitha$18MSeriesSeedround.Notably,therearesixnon-UScompaniesonthelist,demonstratinginternationalgrowthinthiscategory.

NoexitstookplaceinQ1.Overthepastdecade,acquisitionshavebeenthepredominantexitroute,accountingfor72%oftheroundsraisedand86%ofthetotalvaluerealized.Companiesthathavegonepublicinthiscategoryhavegenerallyunderperformed,oftenstrugglingtodemonstrateconsistentfinancialmetrics,duetothemarketbeingintheearlystagesofdevelopmentandhighdevelopmentcosts.

89

Distribution

Hardwareandsoftwaretoconnect,process,andmanagedatafromspace-basedassets

ANNUALINVESTMENTSOURCE

USA

Australia

China

UK

SouthKorea

Israel

Canada

Other1

CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTGEOGRAPHY

2%1%

3%4%

8%

10%

60%

12%

Overthepastdecade,U.S.companiesrepresent60%ofthetotalinvestment,followedbyAustraliaat12%,andChinaat10%.TheU.S.fundinglandscapeisdiversifiedbetweenGPS/GNSSandSatCom,whileAustraliaspecializesinGEOINTandChina’sinvestmentsleanpredominantlytowardsGNSS.Withincreasingneedforresilientubiquitouscommunicationsandreal-timespatialinsights,it’spossiblethattheU.S.andChinawillwitnessincreasedinvestmentsatthislayerofthestack.

BYSECTOR•CUMULATIVEROUNDSHARE

$2.0B

$1.5B

$1.0B

$0.5B

$0

NumberofRounds

Other5

Corporate

VentureCapital

Angel/Individual

60

40

20

0

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Q1sawlimitedDistributioninvestmentanddealactivity,withonly$0.1Binvestedacross7rounds.ContinuedinnovationatthislayerisneededtounlockvalueandmonetizetheInfrastructurebeingbuilt.Newcapabilitiesingeospatialdataprocessingandmappingarebeingtested,especiallywiththeintegrationofAIandML.Furthermore,companiesthatworkonSatComimplementation,direct-to-deviceconnectivity,andedgecomputingarecriticaltoacceleratenewApplications.

BYSECTOR•CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTAMOUNT

$4B

$3B

$2B

$1B

$0

NumberofRounds

80

60

40

22%

SatComGPS

GEOINT

40%

38%

GPSSatComGEOINT

SatComandGPShaveaccountedfor78%ofallroundsinDistributionoverthepastdecade.GEOINTcontinueditsriseasthemostactivesectorinQ1.It’sworthnotingthat84%ofGEOINTroundssince2015areearly-stageandanabsenceofgrowthroundsindicatethatthesectorisstillemerging.Tothrive,manycompaniesmayneedtostrategicallyexpandtheirinitiallynarrowbusinessscopetoincreasemarketappealandunlockgrowthpotential.

Distributionhasseen$7.8Binvestedacross169companiesoverthepastdecade.Duringthattime,GPScompaniesattracted45%ofthetotalinvestment,withSatComaccountingfor38%andboastingthehighestnumberofcompaniesat71.GEOINThascontinuedtogrow,securing59%oftheinvestmentsinQ1and37%oftotalfundingsince2022,substantiallyhigherthanits10-yearaverageof17%.

TOTALEQUITYINVESTMENTSINCE2015

$7.8B

BYSTAGE•CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTAMOUNT

$3B

$2B

$1B

$0

SeedSeriesASeriesBSeriesCLateStage3Other

4

Early-stagefundinghasshownsustainedmomentumandnowrepresents21%ofthetotalcapitaloverthepastdecade.Thelackoffollow-oninvestmentsunderscoresthechallengescompaniesfacedwhenscaling.Technologyatthislayerisshiftingawayfromlargelyhardware-centricsolutionstodynamicsoftware-definedcapabilitiesthatbetterreflecttheevolvingneedsofendcustomersandrequirelesscapitaltogrow.

TOPDEALSINTHEQUARTER

BYSTAGE•CUMULATIVEROUNDSHARE

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

100%

Other4

LateStage3SeriesC

50%

SeriesBSeriesASeed

0%

Q1dealactivitywasbalancedwithfourearly-stagecompaniesandthreegrowthstagetransactions.Since2015,early-stageroundsinDistributionmakeup72%ofthetotalroundshare.ThetrendfollowsasimilarpathwitnessedinGPS,hintingatthesustainediterationneededwithintheSatComandGEOINTtechstackstoseeendApplicationsflourish.

EXITSBYSECTOR

$4B

$2B

$0

SatCom

GPS

GEOINT

NumberofRounds

10

5

COMPANY

SkyloTechnologies

ROUND

SeriesC

AMOUNT

$37M

DefenseUnicorns

SeriesA

$35M

Synthetaic

SeriesB

$16M

StealthCompany

Seed

$8M

Code42

SeriesB

$5M

Fused

Preseed

$1M

Aiden

Preseed

$0M

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

SatComandGEOINTdominatedtheQ1listwithsevenrounds.Skylo,basedinCalifornia,raiseda$37MSeriesCfinancingtoprovideaSatComnetworkforIoTandtopursuetheemergingdirect-to-devicemarketforhigh-bandwidthsmartphones.DefenseUnicorns,basedinColorado,raiseda$35MSeriesAfinancingtohelpDoDmodernizeitssoftwarestackwithopensourcesoftwareandAIcapabilities.

TwoexitstookplaceinQ1thatincludedtwoM&Aactivities.EchoStarcompleteditsmergerwithDISHNetwork,combiningthetwocompanies’SatComsolutionstoofferubiquitousconnectivity.Since2015,themajorityofDistributionexits(90%)havebeenthroughacquisitionsorleveragedbuyouts,withnearlyallexits(98%)occurringintheSatComandGPSsectors.AlthoughGEOINTDistributioncompanieshaveadvancedinproductmaturity,theyhavenotyetachievedtheeconomiesofscaleorqualifyingmetricstorealizesignificantexits.

1011

Applications

Specializedhardwareandsoftwarethatutilizesdatafromspace-basedassets

ANNUALINVESTMENTSOURCE

CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTGEOGRAPHY

1%

2%

4%

5%

38%

6%

35%

1%

7%

1%

USA

China

SingaporeIndia

IndonesiaUK

Canada

ColombiaEstonia

Other1

U.S.companiesaccountfor38%oftheglobaltotalofApplicationsinvestments.Chinesecompaniesfollowcloselywith35%drivenbytheboominge-commerceandLBSmarkets.Singapore,India,andIndonesiahaveemergedasprominentgeographieswithcompaniesspecializinginLBS,mapping,mobility,aswellasenterprisesoftwareforsupplychainandlogisticsmanagement.

BYSECTOR•CUMULATIVEROUNDSHARE

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

NumberofRounds

Other5

Corporate

VentureCapital

Angel/Individual

400

$40B

200

$20B

$0

Q1Applicationsinvestmentrose95%QoQto$3.7B.ThismarksthehighestquartersinceQ1’22.ThisshiftwaslargelydrivenbyBlackstone’sacquisitionofpublicLBSpetcarecompanyRoverGroupina$2.3Btakeprivatetransaction.Despiteseverallargerounds,uncertaintyremainsasvaluationscontinuetoresetandcompanieswaittogopublic.

BYSECTOR•CUMULATIVEINVESTMENTAMOUNT

$200B

$150B

$100B

$50B

$0

NumberofRounds

600

400

200

0

2%

GPS

GEOINTSatCom

28%

70%

GPSGEOINTSatCom

InQ1,GEOINTovertookSatComforthefirsttimeasthesectorwiththesecondhighestinvestment.SatComApplicationsarepoisedforfuturegrowthasthedirect-to-devicecontinuestogainmomentum.