Max Polyakov Owns the Latest Space Unicorn
Firefly Aerospace, an Austin-based rocket company, has managed to raise $75 million in Series A funding. This turns the small space company into a unicorn with a valuation of over $1 billion. The investor sentiment was so high that the initial funding round was oversubscribed. This led Noosphere Ventures, owned by Max Polyakov, to sell $100 million in equity to eager investors in secondary transactions.
Firefly Aerospace’s investor favor has been so strong thanks to a combination of outstanding management of Tom Markusic, a former SpaceX employee, and their $93 million NASA contract, according to which Firefly will send ten science payloads to the Moon in 2023.
What Is Firefly AeroSpace?
Firefly is headquartered in Texas, USA, and was founded in 2014. They specialize in the production and launch of small rockets. They currently have well over 300 employees. Their goal is to reduce the cost and simplify the ability to reach space. They hope to achieve this through their innovative rocket designs, reusable rockets, and leverage of off-the-shelf components.
How Does Firefly’s Plan to Use the Funding?
Firefly is gearing up for the debut of its Alpha launch vehicle. Alpha is an expendable vehicle with a 2000 pound plus payload capacity. Firefly has created a lightweight rocket with an innovative carbon design, making it highly efficient and giving it a superior payload fraction. The launch is just around the corner, with the company hoping to take to space in June 2021 at the Vandenberg Space Force. Some of that $75 million will be used to cover the launch cost, which is expected to be over $10 million.
$75 million may seem like a lot for most companies, but this is just a drop in the bucket in the space industry. Firefly used the Series A round of funding to assess investor enthusiasm and create some attention based on their newly updated billion-dollar valuation. At the end of 2021, Firefly is seeking to raise $350 million. This, combined with the $75 million, will give them the financial firepower to really go after their ambitious growth plans through 2025. These plans feature the creation of new spacecraft and launch vehicles.
The capital will bankroll the production of Firefly's new spacecraft Firefly Beta and Firefly Gamma. Firefly Beta will be a medium rocket and much larger than Alpha. Beta will be able to send more than 3500 kg to 200 km Lower Earth Orbit. Firefly Gamma will be a highly efficient and reusable vehicle that will focus on small payloads. The goal is for almost 80% of the vehicle's hardware to be reused. It will have both air and ground launch capabilities, and there is even the option to use the vehicle for hypersonic travel on Earth.
