GiantLeap Capital Invests in Firefly Aerospace in an Oversubscribed $175 Million Series D Capital Raise Round

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Nov 14, 2024, 08:00 ET

• GiantLeap Capital joins existing private equity firm and investor, AE Industrial Partners, and new lead investor, RPM Ventures, in Series D Funding

• The investment highlights GiantLeap Capital's focus on late-stage growth equity in private and public special situations within mission-critical technology assets

NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GiantLeap Capital, a U.S-based alternative investment firm that partners with companies developing technologies for critical industries, announced an investment in Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services.

The $175M Series D round was oversubscribed at a valuation of more than $2 billion. The Series D round was led by new investor, RPM Ventures, a venture capital firm that has been investing in revolutionary, category-defining companies for more than two decades and existing investor, AE Industrial Partners, a private investment firm with over $6bn in AUM focused on highly specialized markets including national security, aerospace and industrial services

Firefly Aerospace is an end-to-end space transportation company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Firefly's small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond.

"We are excited to partner with Firefly Aerospace to help accelerate the build out of their robust platform that provides economically viable space transportation for both commercial and government agencies," said Samir Parikh, Managing Partner at GiantLeap Capital. "On the back of the success of SpaceX (a collaboration partner under NASA's Lunar Initiative), Firefly has created its own niche in the space market as a full-service provider of responsive space solutions in launch, land and orbit for small to medium lift launches."

"Firefly is extremely grateful for our existing and new investors like GiantLeap whose support demonstrates a huge vote of confidence in our capabilities and future. We look forward to working with GiantLeap team members like operating advisor John Kim, formerly of L3Harris, to drive profitable growth for our investors." said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace.

"The team at Firefly Aerospace, led by Jason Kim, is truly exceptional," said Himanshu Sekhar, Managing Partner at GiantLeap Capital. "While we are excited about key initiatives in 2025, the long-term potential of this company is significantly driven by strong secular themes across defense, communications and advanced engineering."

In addition to its responsive launch operations, in partnership with SpaceX, Firefly stands ready to begin its inaugural Blue Ghost mission to the Moon as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service initiative. The team is concurrently preparing for multiple Alpha launches as part of its contracted missions with Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, True Anomaly, NASA and NOAA while co-developing a Medium Launch Vehicle with Northrop Grumman. In parallel, the company is completing final preparations for its first Elytra mission, a configurable spacecraft that provides on-orbit services and a deep space communication network.

GiantLeap Capital is a tech-focused, structured growth equity investment firm. GiantLeap Capital focuses on leveraging emerging technologies to rapidly scale companies providing mission-critical products and services. The firm takes a long-term, thematic approach to provide value-oriented, flexible capital focused on private markets and opportunistic special situations.

For more information, visit https://www.giantleapcapital.com.

Firefly Aerospace is an end-to-end space transportation company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AEIndustrial Partners focused on delivering responsive, reliable, and affordable space access for government and commercial customers. Firefly's small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond.

For more information, visit www.fireflyspace.com.

SOURCE GiantLeap Capital