Today Italian spacetech startup Kurs Orbital has raised €3.7 million in Seed funding to bring its innovative solutions to the in-orbit services and logistics market.
Founded in 2022, the startup aims to democratise in-orbit servicing solutions, including space debris removal, satellite relocation, de-orbiting, and satellite inspections, by providing reliable and cost-efficient rendezvous and docking technology.
Kurs Orbital is headed by its CEO and co-founder, Volodymyr Usov, who previously served as Chairman of the State Space Agency of Ukraine.
The company has developed ARCap, a single and standardised rendezvous module which can be integrated into any kind of satellite, orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), cargo/crewed ship, or spacecraft bus the customer uses to enable transportation, life extension, in-orbit servicing, space debris removal, and more.
The module makes it possible for servicing and logistics industries, which would otherwise be unable to afford to operate in the orbital market, to scale up their business.
According to Usov:
“This round is critical for our next step - delivering powerful and cost-effective rendezvous technology to the market”, said “With the help of our investors we will be able to reach the market sooner, enabling many other startups and companies to start debris removal and satellite servicing operations that are vital for sustainable space activities.”
The round was led by OTB Ventures, and joined by Credo Ventures, Galaxia (the Italian National Technology Transfer Hub for Aerospace of CDP Venture Capital) together with Obloo Ventures and the regional co-investment fund Piemonte Next, created and managed by CDP Venture Capital and supported by the Financial Institute of the Piedmont Region, Finpiemonte, In-Q-Tel (IQT), and Inovo.
Wojtek Walniczek, Partner at OTB Ventures, said:
“Kurs Orbital’s team, building off a long and rich legacy of designing and creating rendezvous and docking systems in an agency context, immediately struck us as the right combination of deep and unique expertise combined with a fresh look at the technology and market.
It is a great example of our investment strategy in the wider in-space servicing market. The timing is just right with the changing paradigm of space environment, so the company is uniquely positioned to commercialise and provide this foundational platform for future space operations.
We made sure to bring together a robust investor consortium to establish Kurs Orbital on a solid footing and enable its dynamic development timeline.”
“We are delighted to join forces with OTB Ventures in supporting Kurs Orbital's groundbreaking venture into the in-orbit servicing and logistics markets.” commented Claudia Pingue, Manager of the CDP Venture Capital Tech Transfer Fund.
The seed funding will propel Kurs Orbital towards the completion of its first flight model, allowing for faster integrated testing and team expansions, with the intention to become the leading provider in this platform technology.
Lead image: Kurs Orbital.
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