<article>Tokyo-based lunar exploration company ispace has raised $46 million in a Series C round as it seeks to complete three lunar lander missions in three years, according to an announcement.</article>

Tokyo-based lunar exploration company ispace has raised $46 million in a Series C round as it seeks to complete three lunar lander missions in three years, according to an announcement.
The round was led by Tokyo-based venture capital firm Incubate Fund and backed by Innovation Engine, SBI Investment, Katsunori Sago, HiJoJo Partners, AIZAWA Investments and Aizawa Asset Management.
The latest round brings ispace&#8217;s total equity and debt funding to $195.5 million.
The fresh funding will go toward the firm&#8217;s second and third lunar lander missions scheduled for 2023 and 2024. The first mission, which ispace aims to conduct in the second half of 2022, is being supported by earlier financing.
Last month, ispace announced it had started assembling its lunar landing flight module at a facility owned by ArianeGroup in Lampoldshausen, Germany. The lander will launch from the US on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
As part of the first mission, its lander will deliver payloads for the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and three companies chosen as part of the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP) program.
The second mission will deploy ispace’s own rover Sorato. Founded by entrepreneur Takeshi Hakamada, the company has over 150 staff and offices in Japan, Europe and the United States.
Interest in space exploration has skyrocketed due to declining launch costs, massive technology improvements and gimmicks such as billionaire entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos&#8217;s recent space flights. This has helped fuel a new wave of venture capital funding in startups that build space infrastructure.
According to PitchBook, venture capital investment in space tech companies reached a record $5.5 billion in 2020. The industry is set to top that milestone with $3.6 billion raised across 94 deals in the first six months of this year.
Among recent deals, launch vehicle startup Isar Aerospace bagged an additional $75 million in an extended Series B round in July led by HV Capital, Porsche SE and banking group Lombard Odier. It had secured $91 million in Series B funding last December. The startup is focused on building orbital launch vehicles designed to send payloads to space.

The round was backed by Innovation Engine, SBI Investment, Katsunori Sago, HiJoJo Partners, AIZAWA Investments and Aizawa Asset Management.

Japanese startup ispace bags $46m in Series C round led by Incubate Fund

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Japanese startup ispace bags $46m in Series C round led by Incubate Fund

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