The Bavarian space-tech is reportedly aiming to raise at least $300m.
As Europe ramps up efforts to compete with US heavyweights in the space sector, Germany’s The Exploration Company (TEC) is reportedly eyeing a major raise that could value the start-up at more than $2bn.
Founded in 2021 by Hélène Huby and a team of aerospace veterans, TEC is building a full-stack space transportation system.
Nyx, the company’s reusable space capsule designed to dock with any space station is expected to go on its first flight demonstration in 2028. The company is also developing a high-thrust staged combustion rocket engine called Storm.
TEC’s website states that it aims to address the “exclusive[ity]” of space travel by building space vehicles “for humanity”. It is the first European company to have signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA.
The company operates out of Germany, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy, with offices in the US and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the Financial Times, the Bavarian space-tech is aiming to pool at least $300m, with the EQT-managed $5bn Scaleup Europe Fund in talks to make one of its first investments in the company.
The fund aims to close the persistent late-stage financing gap that has long pushed European scale-ups to raise capital elsewhere and, in many cases, to relocate abroad altogether. Scaleup Europe Fund is also reportedly expected to back the Paris-based Mistral AI in an upcoming round.
EQT Ventures has backed TEC since 2023. Other investors, including Bayern Kapital, Promus Ventures, Partech, Vsquared Ventures, Cherry and Red River West also back the company.
TEC did not disclose its valuation following a 2024 raise of $160m. Earlier this month, the company opened a new lab near the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston to conduct further testing on a full-scale mock-up of a Nyx crew capsule.
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