For a first attempt, it was a masterstroke. For their first investment, the promoters of NewSpace Capital--Bogdan Gogulan, Felix von Schubert and Padraig Mc Carthy--had put a ticket in Iceye, alongside the Luxembourg Future Fund, the SNCI (via the Dutch OTB Fund Coöperatief) and Promus Ventures (the parent company of Orbital Ventures, so not with Luxembourg capital). Finnish start-up Iceye, which runs a constellation of synthetic aperture radars around the world, enables its customers to make data-driven decisions in sectors such as insurance, natural disaster response and recovery, security, maritime surveillance and finance.
The valuation of this stake, €18.8m for 5% in 2020, became €35.3m in 2021. The investment company NewSpace Capital, launched to support the new space sector, did not participate in the $136m Series D this year, but was able to capitalise on this good first result and to set up a research centre in Luxembourg.
This also allowed it to convince itself of its relevance. It recently announced the first closing of its €105m growth fund focused on a €300bn segment covering earth observation, communication and data analysis thanks to “a cornerstone investment from Archean Capital Partners, a US fund dedicated to investing in emerging fund managers with specialised sector and operational experience.” A majority of the firm’s capital comes from outside of Europe. “Other investors include corporations, financial institutions and family offices,” the firm explained in a press statement.
Bogdan Gogulan, CEO and Managing Partner of NewSpace Capital, explained to Delano that addressing Europe’s general lack of growth capital is essential to keeping successful businesses around, particularly given that Europe handles the “most difficult aspect” of nurturing businesses to succeed by providing early stage capital.
The firm’s next goal is to raise additional funding and continue making investments in European growth stage companies, without neglecting investments in the US, which accounts for half of the global market. The target capital for this round is €250m, with a hard cap of €350m.
“When people talk about space they're thinking about about SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Planet… all of these are US players, and suddenly we invest in Europe, and we’re getting great returns and we are growing the industry. And I think that is exciting… It’s a completely different investment strategy. We are pioneering this, and we’re pioneering this in Luxembourg with the help of Luxembourg ecosystem.”
The next market leader
“We are very selective in backing new funds and we are willing to wait for the right combination of team, strategy and market opportunity. NewSpace Capital has an amazing network within the space ecosystem that makes them a preferred partner to companies like Cailabs. We are thrilled to support the team as they build NewSpace Capital into the next market leading private equity firm,” said Chris Keller, co-portfolio manager of Archean Capital.
After investing €5m in French start-up Kayrros, named by the Financial Times as the “Tech Champion of 2022,” the Luxembourg fund also announced that it had led the €26m round of another French deeptech company, Cailabs, by providing €15m of the total. It may be worth noting that the Luxembourgers have joined other experienced and strategic investors, such as Definvest (the PE fund of the French ministry for the armed forces led by BPI before the French defence logistics agency), Innovacom, Safran Corporate Venture or Crédit Agricole Ille et Vilaine Expansion. Cailabs, the Rennes-based start-up in the field of optical communication with 22 patents, is also among the deep tech projects selected by the European Innovation Council.
This story was first published in French on It has been translated and edited for Delano.