D-Orbit Receives Investment to Reach New Heights in Space Logistics Services

Italian startup D-Orbit, which provides a range of logistics services to companies operating satellites and other services in space, has raised €100 million in a Series C equity financing round. It said another $50 million will be added to its Series C in the first half of this year. The current investment was led by Marubeni Corporation, a strategic backer outside Japan's industrial sector, along with Avantgarde (a regular investor in the space industry), CDP Venture Capital, Seraphim Space Investment Trust, United Ventures, Indaco Venture Partners, Neva SGR and Primo. We can say that the valuation of the company with this round is around $500 million.

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Italian startup D-Orbit

This investment currently stands as one of the largest investments by a space technology company in Europe. For D-Orbit, registered as a B Corp, it was also a useful turnaround after abandoning plans for an IPO on Nasdaq last year in the midst of a tough IPO market. (That cancellation left D-Orbit with about $20 million in debt on its capital statement from bonds it raised for the listing. CEO Luca Rossettini has stated that the rest of the money it raised is in equity.)

Today, D-Orbit provides last-mile satellite delivery and related logistics services, mission control as a service for managing already launched spacecraft and hardware, and space waste management services. All of these are for launches in Earth orbit. His work is a mix of software and hardware development. Rossettini, who co-founded D-Orbit with COO Renato Panesi, said his plan is to continue to expand in all these areas and go even further.