SpaceFounders Launches Recruitment of its Second Cohort of Startups

PARIS (CNES PR) — SpaceFounders, the European NewSpace start-up accelerator, launched in 2021 at the initiative of CNES and the Bundeswehr University of Munich, is recruiting its new cohort of start-ups with a call for applications open until March 25. If the year 2021 turned out to be extremely rich, the year 2022 promises to be ultra-ambitious.

Online applications: https://www.spacefounders.eu/apply-now

In 2021, SpaceFounders demonstrated its ability to select and support an ultra-promising cohort of European spacetech entrepreneurs. Seed and Series A fundraising for a cumulative amount of more than €70 million is underway for the 10 winning start-ups, in order to innovate across the entire space value chain: space tourism, space surveillance, but also reusable launchers and innovative downstream services, including components for nanosatellites and in-orbit services.

In 2022, SpaceFounders plans to bring out 20 new nuggets and strengthen its European positioning through strategic partnerships with the largest space agencies and European industrial leaders.

SpaceFounders’ strategy is first to select, extremely rigorously, the best French and European nuggets with disruptive technological innovations, and then to give their leaders the means to become future space unicorns. This is done through on the one hand an ultra-intensive and ultra-qualitative entrepreneurship support program carried out by space experts for NewSpace entrepreneurs, and on the other hand a powerful network of mentors and strategic personalities. strongly committed to the development of spacetech in Europe.

The next SpaceFounders promotion is sponsored by Antoine de Chassy, ​​co-founder and president of Loft Orbital and a personality committed to the development of NewSpace, in particular a member of the France 2030 strategic committee, on the space component. It strongly embodies the ambitions of the program to combine historical institutional and industrial players, European investors and new emerging players. As a reminder, Loft Orbital, a provider of space services in low orbit based in Toulouse and San Francisco, raised €125 million a few months ago and entered the Next 40 of French Tech.

Antoine de Chassy said: “We have to ask ourselves the question of what we can do in Europe and in France to grow our space start-ups to make them real industrial players. This requires bringing together investors who are ready to put in the money, public institutions which are there to initiate, then let go and let entrepreneurs take their responsibilities, and finally support structures, such as SpaceFounders, capable of follow them throughout their growth. We must be able to consider that in the future promotions of SpaceFounders, there will be a company, which, in 5 years, will hire 1000 people.”