Apex Raises $95M in Series B Funding to Increase Productized Satellite Bus Manufacturing

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Jun 12, 2024, 07:00 ET

Palantir and SpaceX alums team up with traditional and new space industry talent to push satellites forward

LOS ANGELES, June 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Apex, a Los Angeles-based spacecraft manufacturing company, today announced its $95 million Series B funding round. The funding round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, an early investor in the company, and co-led by CRV, alongside new investors Upfront, 8VC, Toyota Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, Outsiders Fund, GSBackers, existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Shield Capital, J2 Ventures, Ravelin, angels Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood, and Avalon Capital Group, private investment company founded by Ted Waitt, co-founder of Gateway, Inc.

As the only producer of truly productized satellite buses, Apex is dedicated to helping customers rapidly advance space capabilities. Traditional buses are custom built for every spacecraft, adding months or years to the process of getting payloads on orbit. Apex allows customers to get to space faster, without the need for a bespoke bus for every launch with their productized platform. The fundraise, which allows them to increase production to meet customer demand, follows the successful launch of Apex's first bus in March and a growing number of customers.

"The West cannot achieve the capabilities we need in space at the necessary scale and speed without a productized approach to powering and supporting satellites," said Apex CEO and founder, Ian Cinnamon. "Coming on the heels of our first launch and numerous bus sales to commercial, government, and international customers, this fundraise is a vote of confidence in Apex's vision and success. This new funding will help us both expand our family of productized satellite buses and produce them at industry-leading scale. Today's aerospace and defense industries are hungry for solutions they can deploy in mass, and we're here and ready to meet their needs."

The fundraise also represents an unprecedented convergence of blue-chip institutional investors with funds known for backing the most consequential defense and public sector technology companies.

"At XYZ, we're constantly looking at the trends shaping defense, public sector, and aerospace needs, and it was clear to us that Apex was set up to serve truly momentous demand," said Ross Fubini, Managing Partner of XYZ Venture Capital, known for backing Anduril. "Without the satellite-building capabilities Apex brings to the market, it would be impossible for this country to stay ahead of its security and commercial space goals. That's why we've been so bullish from the earliest stage."

Satellite buses are the core set of components of any spacecraft, allowing it to move around, communicate, provide power, and more. Customers attach their payloads, such as sensors or radios, to the satellite bus, letting them accomplish their unique missions. By creating a productized bus standard, Apex eliminates the need for highly customized satellite buses for each spacecraft. This allows Apex to produce these solutions faster, but also addresses a huge bottleneck in the industry by helping customers deploy and launch faster, too. This is why Apex has already secured orders from a range of customers, including top-tier prime contractors.

With the U.S. Department of Defense and other customers setting ambitious goals to launch thousands of new satellites, Apex's bus technology is more essential than ever. In addition to building new product lines and manufacturing at scale, Apex is also keen to hire the best talent working in both tech and aerospace, and will be hiring for a number of roles this year.

"Traditional bus manufacturing has become a bottleneck that inhibits humanity's ability to get necessary capabilities on orbit; from the essentials for everyday operations to cutting-edge technology, said Brittany Walker, General Partner at CRV. "Apex removes that bottleneck for legacy payload providers and those looking to make their mark in space."

The funding round comes as Apex approaches important milestones, including the opening of a new factory that will allow the company to dramatically step up production.

Powered by Apex's team that marries traditional aerospace expertise with new-space mentalities, the raise caps off a series of other major milestones. These include numerous Department of Defense direct contracts and multiple bus sales across both government and commercial customers, the most recent of which was NASA's use of an Apex bus-powered Earth science mission. All of this traction followed Apex's successful March launch of its first bus, Aries SN1, which is now on orbit supporting several payloads. Its success represents the fastest build of any production small satellite bus — setting quite the record, and previewing so much more work to come.

Media Contact: Claude Chafin, Invariant: [email protected]

SOURCE Apex Space