Australian space startup Fleet Space Technologies raised A$150 million in a Series D funding round yesterday.
Fleet Space is now valued at more than $800 million. The round was led by Canada’s Teachers’ Venture Growth, with other investors including Blackbird Ventures, Hostplus, and Horizons Ventures.
“This funding is not just a testament to Fleet Space’s growth, strong investor confidence, and sustained innovation in core technologies needed to address dual challenges of climate change and mineral exploration," said Fleet Space CFO Federico Tata Nardini. "It’s a signal that in a period of turbulent macroeconomic conditions, the shared commitment to build technologies needed for Earth’s clean energy future combined with solid business execution can attract the right partners.”
Fleet Space’s flagship project is ExoSphere, which uses satellites and seismic sensors to produce data on subsurface minerals.
ExoSphere “seamlessly integrates with and compliments modern mining operations - making the frontier of exploration technology accessible to the global mining industry within a single workflow,” said Fleet Space CEO and co-founder Flavia Tata Nardini.
ExoSphere has been used by companies like Rio Tinto and Barrick Gold over the past year, Fleet Space said.
The company is also developing low Earth orbit telecommunications satellites for Australia’s Defence Space Command.
Fleet Space’s seismic technology will be deployed to the moon in 2026 aboard American company Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander.
Fleet Space, founded in 2018, is based in Adelaide. It previously raised $50 million in a Series C funding round last year.