ClearSpace completes EUR 26.7m series A financing round

Niederer Kraft Frey advised ClearSpace, an European space sustainability leader, on its EUR 26.7 million series A financing led by OTB Ventures and Swisscom Ventures.

ClearSpace is a leading in-orbit servicing and active space debris removal company, founded in 2018 with the sole aim of making space operations more sustainable, based in Switzerland, ClearSpace intends to revolutionize how space missions are conducted. ClearSpace is creating the technologies that will support a wide range of in-orbit services (IOS) applications, from disposal and in-orbit transport to mission extension, assembly, manufacturing, repair, and recycling. ClearSpace aims to support institutions and commercial operators alike, to enhance sustainable space operations and promote a circular space economy.

With the financing raised, ClearSpace intends to accelerate its operations ahead of the world’s first space debris removal mission, ClearSpace-1, a EUR 110 million space debris removal mission secured from the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2020, scheduled to launch in 2026. Using state of the art technology and advanced in-orbit techniques, ClearSpace-1 aims at demonstrating the feasibility of removing debris from orbit.

The financing round was led by OTB Ventures, backed by the European Investment Fund under InvestEU programme, and Swisscom Ventures, with participation from the Luxembourg Future Fund, Lakestar, In-Q-Tel, Happiness Capital and 600 T Space Investments.

ClearSpace-1, which is supported by Omega as Elite Partner, will be the first of numerous missions ClearSpace is planning for both low-earth and geostationary orbits. ClearSpace recently announced a satellite life-extension collaboration with satcom operator Intelsat, building upon the technology being developed under the ClearSpace-1 mission.

The NKF team was led by Corporate/M&A partner Jacques Bonvin, working with partner Andrea Wuerzner (Corporate/M&A).