Kurs Orbital, an Italian spacetech startup, has raised €3.7 million in seed funding to bring its innovative solutions to the in-orbit services and logistics market. The round was led by leading European DeepTech VC firm OTB Ventures, and joined by (in alphabetical order): Credo Ventures, Galaxia (the Italian National Technology Transfer Hub for Aerospace of CDP Venture Capital together with Obloo Ventures and the regional co-investment fund Piemonte Next, created and managed by CDP Venture Capital and supported by the Financial Institute of the Piedmont Region, Finpiemonte, with the aim of maximising investments in innovation for the region), In-Q-Tel (IQT), and Inovo.
Founded in 2022, Kurs Orbital is incubated in I3P, the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, within the ESA BIC Turin incubation program.
The start-up aims to democratise in-orbit servicing solutions including space debris removal, satellite relocation, de-orbiting, and satellite inspections, by providing reliable and cost efficient rendezvous and docking technology. Its innovative ARCap module makes it possible for servicing and logistics industries, who would otherwise be unable to afford operating in the orbital market, to scale up their business.
The seed funding will propel Kurs Orbital towards the completion of its first flight model, allowing for faster integrated testing and team expansions, with the intention to become the leading provider in this platform technology.
ARCap is a single and standardised rendezvous module which can be integrated into any kind of satellite, orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), cargo/crewed ship, or spacecraft bus the customer uses to enable transportation, life extension, in-orbit servicing, space debris removal, and more.
“This round is critical for our next step - delivering powerful and cost-effective rendezvous technology to the market”, said Volodymyr Usov, Kurs Orbital’s CEO and Co-founder. “With the help of our investors we will be able to reach the market sooner, enabling many other startups and companies to start debris removal and satellite servicing operations that are vital for sustainable space activities.”
Wojtek Walniczek, Partner at OTB Ventures, said: “Kurs Orbital’s team, building off a long and rich legacy of designing and creating rendezvous and docking systems in an agency context, immediately struck us as the right combination of deep and unique expertise combined with a fresh look at the technology and market. It is a great example of our investment strategy in the wider in-space servicing market. The timing is just right with the changing paradigm of space environment, so the company is uniquely positioned to commercialise and provide this foundational platform for future space operations. We made sure to bring together a robust investor consortium to put Kurs Orbital on a strong footing and to enable its dynamic development timeline.”
“We are delighted to join forces with OTB Ventures in supporting Kurs Orbital's groundbreaking venture into the in-orbit servicing and logistics markets,” commented Claudia Pingue, Manager of the CDP Venture Capital Tech Transfer Fund. “This investment demonstrates how the Italian research and industrial ecosystem is among the few in the world to provide a fully integrated value chain for the space economy,” added Nicola Redi, Managing Partner of Obloo Ventures.
Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P and Coordinator of ESA BIC Turin, commented: "We are very proud of this important funding round for Kurs Orbital, which has joined the first cohort of start-ups in the ESA BIC Turin incubation program with the aim of bringing to market a highly innovative and strategic technology for the development of future satellite platforms."
