- Transaction cements strategic partnership between SatRevolution and Virgin Orbit
- The total Series B fundraise is estimated to close at $30 million
- Investment values SatRevolution at $150 million
PARIS — (BUSINESS WIRE) — December 14, 2021 — SatRevolution S.A. (“SatRev or the “Company”), a Polish developer and manufacturer of nanosatellites and nanosatellite technologies, today announced that it has secured Series B funding (the “Transaction”) from Virgin Orbit, the US-based responsive launch and space solutions company that has announced a planned business combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (“NextGen”) (NASDAQ: NGCA). The Transaction values SatRev at approximately $150 million, and will support SatRev’s business development.
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The Transaction, signed today at World Satellite Business Week, follows a strategic partnership established by SatRev and Virgin Orbit in June this year under which both companies seek to develop business applications for the use of nanosatellites. SatRev has to date launched two satellites with Virgin Orbit as part of the LauncherOne Tubular Bells: Part One mission. Two more SatRev satellites are awaiting launch as part of Virgin Orbit’s Above the Clouds mission launching next month. SatRev and Virgin Orbit plan to jointly offer up to 500kg of hosted payload services on LauncherOne rockets, turnkey solutions for rapid deployment of space services, and much more.
SatRev nanosatellite technologies include the Stork medium-resolution earth observation platform and ScopeSat, a deployable high-resolution telescope with on-board processing capabilities. These technologies deliver near real-time and high-resolution earth observation capabilities.
“The world needs Earth Observation data with higher revisit rates at more affordable prices, and SatRev will address that need,” said Grzegorz Zwolinski, co-founder and CEO of SatRev. “After four years of research and development by multi-disciplinary teams of scientists and engineers, we are ready to go to market. Our partnership with Virgin Orbit will help us to develop critical relationships with existing and new customers and to give us speed, momentum and the resilience to deliver over the long term.”
The total addressable global market for weekly mapping services could reach $140 billion by 2026 according to Euroconsult. The key to successfully entering this market lies in the ability to monitor Earth at a high resolution, at a high frequency and at an accessible price. SatRev and Virgin Orbit intend to jointly address this market.
“Small satellites are now doing heavy lifting across the space sectors and as the technology has grown globally SatRev has been moving innovation forward at pace," said Dan Hart, CEO of Virgin Orbit. “With our continued collaboration, Virgin Orbit and SatRev will drive capabilities into new markets, enabling applications for Earth observation and more – applications that yesterday were only dreams. Working together, we will continue Virgin Orbit's mission of opening space for good."
SatRev’s current customers and partners include innovators from around the globe, such as SkyWatch, Spiral Blue, Neumann Space, SkyServe, UP42, AIKO, and many more. In addition, many companies are currently testing the use of SatRev’s technologies for different uses. SatRev’s current pipeline of contracts exceeds $50 million and it has already secured a backlog of orders to the value of approximately $18 million.
The Transaction announced today is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter of 2022. The total Series B fundraise is estimated to close at $30 million. All existing shareholders and investors in SatRev will continue to hold their equity, and current SatRev shareholders will remain the majority owners of the Company at closing.
About SatRevolution
SatRevolution was founded in Poland in 2016 to focus on the emerging space market. With a vertically-integrated business, the company specializes in the design, manufacture and operation of satellites as well as data analytics and is building a real-time Earth Observation constellation. Its goal is to become the largest worldwide operator of EO satellites, delivering 1,024 nanosatellites into Low Earth Orbit by 2026 to provide round-the-clock Earth Observation. In October 2019, the company established a consortium with Virgin Orbit and nearly a dozen Polish universities to design and carry out the world’s first dedicated commercial small satellite mission to Mars. In June 2021, SatRevolution placed two-satellites, STORK-4 and STORK-5 Marta, into Low Earth Orbit with the launches of STORK-3 and SteamSat-2 scheduled for December 2021. The company also plans to launch CubeSat, its first Omani nanosatellite by end 2022. SatRev’s satellites can be used to solve the challenges of resource utilisation and optimisation across a wide range of issues including precision agriculture, precision agriculture energy assets monitoring defence & intelligence logistics & transportation infrastructure monitoring. Current investors include Polish VC funds such as Infini, Newberg, Tech Invest Group and Kvarko (part of the Polish NCBiR R&D scientific start-up funding programme). To learn more, visit satrevolution.com
About Virgin Orbit
Virgin Orbit operates one of the most flexible and responsive space launch systems ever built. Founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2017, the company began commercial service in 2021, and has already delivered commercial, civil, national security, and international satellites into orbit. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rockets are designed and manufactured in Long Beach, California, and are air-launched from a modified 747- 400 carrier aircraft that allows Virgin Orbit to operate from locations all over the world in order to best serve each customer’s needs. On August 22, 2021, Virgin Orbit entered into a definitive agreement to combine with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: NGCA), a special purpose acquisition company, which would result in Virgin Orbit becoming a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol VORB. To learn more, visit virginorbit.com.
About NextGen Acquisition Corp. II
NextGen Acquisition Corp. II is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. NextGen is led by George Mattson, a former Partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co., and Gregory Summe, former Chairman and CEO of Perkin Elmer and Vice Chairman of the Carlyle Group. NextGen is listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "NGCA." For more information, please visit www.nextgenacq.com.
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION
Additional Information and Where to Find It
This press release relates to a proposed transaction between Vieco USA, Inc. (“Vieco USA”) and NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (“NextGen”). This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the potential transaction and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. In connection with the proposed transaction, NextGen has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC on September 16, 2021, as amended on October 29, 2021, November 23, 2021 and December 3, 2021, which was declared effective by the SEC on December 7, 2021, which includes a document that serves as a prospectus and proxy statement of NextGen (the “proxy statement/prospectus”). A definitive proxy statement/prospectus was mailed to all NextGen shareholders of record as of November 19, 2021, the record date established for the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders relating to the proposed transaction on December 28, 2021. NextGen also will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. This communication does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed transaction and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect of the proposed transaction. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and security holders of NextGen are urged to read the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus included therein and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction.
Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus included therein and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by NextGen through the website maintained by the SEC at
www.sec.gov .