Latitude announced on 22 January that it had closed a $30 million (€27.5 million) Series B funding round to support the development of its Zephyr launch vehicle.
Zephyr is a two-stage rocket that is designed to deploy payloads of up to 100 kilograms into low Earth orbit. The company has, however, recently announced that it is already working on an upgraded version of the vehicle that will be capable of doubling its initial payload capacity. The maiden flight of Zephyr is expected to be launched in 2025, with the first flight of the upgraded variant targeted for 2028.
The company’s latest funding effort was supported by existing investors Crédit Mutuel Innovation, Expansion, UI Investissement, and DeepTech 2030, which is a France 2030 fund managed by Bpifrance. Blast.club joined Latitude’s Series B funding round as a new investor.
“Our investors’ continued support is a recognition of our eighteen months of hard work, significant accomplishments, and expansion to become a market leader by the end of the decade,” explained Latitude co-founder and CEO Stanislas Maximin. “2024 is a pivotal year for Zephyr’s first flight in 2025 and for serving our first customers.”
According to Latitude, the $30 million Series B will be used to manufacture the first Zephyr launch vehicle, establish the vehicle’s assembly line, complete electrical, propulsion, and fluidic systems and structural tests, bring the company’s test center online, and recruit new talent.
In June 2022, Latitude closed a €10 million Series A funding round, which the company announced at the same time as its renaming from Venture Orbital Systems. This was added to the approximately €2 million the company received in early grants and seed funding. With the closure of its Series B, it has now raised roughly €40 million. The company has also received an undisclosed amount as part of France 2030 awards, which likely amounted to around €10 million, an amount extrapolated from a $55 million in total funding raised figure supplied in the Latitude press release.
