Spanish reusable launch vehicle developer PLD Space today announced the closure of further financing through a tie-up with independent financial advisory and alternative asset management group Arcano Partners. The €7M venture will fund the buildout of the PLD Space aerospace project in a deal forming part of its Series B investment round.
PLD Space, based out of Elche (Spain) and founded in 2011, is currently developing the MIURA 5 orbital launcher to provide a commercial launch service to the small satellite industry. As a technological and operational demonstrator, PLD Space is set to fire the suborbital rocket MIURA 1 to power the in-flight validation of the technologies needed to move forward with MIURA 5. It will also be able to carry payloads of up to 100 kg and expose them to zero-g conditions to be later brought back to Earth, stepping up scientific research and technological development services.
The startup has attracted over €18M in private investment and institutional support to date, in addition to the deal involving Arcano Partners.
A LEADING FINANCIAL ADVISOR
Arcano Partners is a leading financial advisor in the Iberian market whose management arm recently flagged over €6.7Bn in alternative investments (figures from start of activity through June 2020). A major advisory services provider to tech sector firms, especially since the onboarding of Arcano Bluebull, it also, through another of its divisions, manages an investment vehicle tapping several capital and financing formulas to scale up corporate R&D in Spain.
PLD Space fundraising lead and cofounder Raúl Verdú said: “We are excited to announce the onboarding of a leading firm such as Arcano to PLD Space in a move that will allow us to deliver on our financing goals. We are confident this will be the first of many ventures together with Arcano”.
Arcano Asset & Capital Finance managing partner Jon Garaiyurrebaso Eguía said: “We are pleased to be able to help make aerospace projects of this scale possible in our country. PLD Space shows great potential for growth and value generation in a sector set to undergo unprecedented change in the next decade”.