Two years after its initial launch, European venture capital fund Expansion Ventures announced 23 January that it had raised €100 million. The fund was launched to support European New Space and New Air Mobility companies from seed rounds up to Series A and B funding rounds.
According to Expansion, this initial tranche of funding garnered support from a number of prominent investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), which committed €60 million.
“This is a key area for European sovereignty and strategic autonomy, with a crucial need for funding to stay in the race and close the gap with strong competition from outside Europe,” explained EHF chief executive Marjut Falkstedt. “The resources made available to Expansion will enable it to invest rapidly in start-ups that have already been identified, and thus contribute to the development of these important sectors of the European economy.”
Despite only just securing the first tranche of funding, Expansion has already invested around €30 million into 13 startups through a “warehousing structure” called Geodesic, which started to deploy capital towards the end of 2021.
Notable companies currently supported by Expansion include launch startups Latitude and HyPrSpace, space transportation companies Space Cargo Unlimited and the Exploration Company, and space tourism company Zephalto. The fund also participated in Aldoria’s recently announced €10 million Series A funding round.
Expansion is targeting a final closing of €300 million by 2026 and plans to build a portfolio of around 40 companies. With the first tranche of funding secured, the fund will begin to invest in new companies in addition to reinvesting in its current portfolio of companies in subsequent funding rounds.
The fund currently has a database of over 480 startups and is actively following 280. It expects to invest 15 to 20% of its available capital in initial investments and the remaining 80 to 85% in follow-on investments.
