White & Case has advised Bessemer Venture Partners and Atomico on The Exploration Company’s US$450 million Series C financing, which will support development of the company’s reusable space transportation systems.
Bessemer Venture Partners and Atomico co-led the financing alongside the Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT. Existing European investors Balderton, Plural, Cherry and Red River West also participated.
The financing is subject to applicable regulatory approvals. It will support development of The Exploration Company’s reusable space transportation systems, including Nyx, its cargo spacecraft, and Storm, its high-thrust European rocket engine programme.
The Exploration Company is building transportation systems for the space economy, with a focus on giving Europe sovereign capabilities to move cargo into orbit and return it safely to Earth. Its reusable, launcher-agnostic capsule is designed to serve the International Space Station and future commercial space stations, delivering payloads and returning them to Earth.
White & Case partner Norman Röchert, who co-led the firm’s deal team, described the financing as the largest Series C raised by a European space company and as a milestone for the company and the continued development of Europe’s space capabilities.
The US$450 million financing brings together Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico and the EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund alongside existing investors in support of The Exploration Company’s reusable space transportation systems. Nyx and Storm are among the programmes identified for development through the financing.
White & Case’s transaction team was led by Röchert in Germany and Daniel Turgel in London. Partners Farhad Jalinous and Bob Wagman in Washington, DC, Orion Berg and Clara Hainsdorf in Paris, and Mathias Bogusch and Thilo Wienke in Germany also advised on the transaction.
The team also included counsel Andreas van den Eikel in Germany and associates Tommaso Tosi in Milan, Joao Lacerda in London, Tim Sensenig and Davin Paley-Zimble in Washington, DC, Hovig Cancioglu and Louis Roussier in Paris, and Francesco Balestra in Milan. Anna Hankings-Evans, Daniel Stuebbe, Jasmin Bechtold and Karim Meziani in Germany were also members of the team.
The financing remains subject to applicable regulatory approvals and, if those approvals are obtained, will support continued development of The Exploration Company’s reusable space transportation systems, including Nyx and Storm.
