Loft Orbital captures $170M in Series C investments

Loft Orbital, an eight-year-old space infrastructure startup, has completed a $170 million Series C round to aid its ongoing push to ramp up satellite launches and incorporate more artificial intelligence functions into those systems.

Axial Partners and Tikehau Capital co-led the round announced Tuesday that also involved participants such as Bpifrance, Foundation Capital, Temasek and Uncork Capital.

Supernova, Tribeca Venture Partners, Starburst VC, Arkenstone Partners and GSBackers are also listed as new investors.

Loft also cites these backers as investors across multiple rounds: Foundation Capital, Ubiquity VC, Heroic VC, Timber Grove Ventures, Modern Venture Partners, Swell VC, CEAS, Woori Ventures and Gore Creek.

With the Series C money, Loft reports having fetched $300 million in external capital since it opened for business in 2017. This move follows the $130 million Series B round in 2021.

San Francisco-headquartered Loft integrates physical and virtual payloads onto its satellites called YAM, short for “Yet Another Mission.” The idea is to take on much of the space infrastructure operation responsibility for customers.

The company touts a government and defense industry customer base that includes NASA, Space Force, the Space Development Agency, BAE Systems, Microsoft and Eutelsat.

Loft is due to launch its first satellite this year for its Space Development Agency customer. Loft also reports it can now perform on classified programs through its Loft Federal division.

In a blog on the Series C round, co-founders Pierre-Damien Vaujour and Alex Greenberg wrote that they want Loft to scale its launches up to more than 10 satellites per year versus today’s handful.

Loft will also look to include more onboard computing and inter-satellite link capability into the systems in an effort to give clients more real-time tactical data.

“Today, satellites are used in slow motion. A human tasks a satellite, data is collected, and that data is downlinked and routed back to the customer. Another human uses that data to make a decision or conduct some analysis,” Vaujour and Greenberg wrote.

“Very few satellites are used to detect and monitor events in real-time. We believe there is massive, untapped potential in utilizing satellites for tactical purposes. To do so, our satellites have to become smarter and more rapidly accessible.”

Below is a Bloomberg TV interview aired Tuesday, featuring Loft’s chief operating officer Alex Greenberg.