December 1, 2021

SPACEFOUNDERS CLASS OF 2021 SHINES AT DEMO DAYS

The SpaceFounders accelerator programme for European space start-ups has entered its final FUND phase, which is most likely set to run into 2022 but already proving most promising. Demo Days in Berlin on Tuesday 23 November and Paris on Thursday 25 November were a great success, hosting meet-ups with investors, partners and key institutional customers. The 10 laureate start-ups were able notably to outline their strategy and ambition to become world champions in New Space to more than 40 private investors, venture capital funds, European family offices and business angels. In total, this phase aims to raise seed and Series A funding worth more than €70 million.

On the back of this success, SpaceFounders plans in 2022 to nurture a new class of 20 space tech start-ups for which it will launching a recruitment drive next spring under the cooperation agreement between CNES and Bundeswehr University Munich (UniBw).

SpaceFounders is a highly intensive, high-quality programme running over three months. Start-ups selected for the programme are backed by CNES’s strong network and infrastructures, as well as those at UniBw. They also get support from exclusive partners like the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Centre DLR. SpaceFounders is able to tap into a unique community of more than 100 mentors from among the top players in the European space and digital ecosystem, offering start-ups tailored assistance in technical, business and financial areas.

Commenting on the Demo Day in Paris, CNES Chairman & CEO Philippe Baptiste said: “I absolutely wanted to attend this event to confirm CNES’s commitment to the SpaceFounders laureate start-ups for 2021. I was really impressed by the quality of their pitches. CNES will now be supporting them with contracts to serve this programme. I would like to thank all the investors who came and I hope we can count on their involvement at this stage of the programme to secure Europe’s place in the future New Space arena.”

https://www.spacefounders.eu/

CONTACTS
Olivia Baumann     Press Officer    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 76 77    olivia.baumann@cnes.fr
Pascale Bresson    Press Officer    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39    pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Raphaël Sart    Head of Media    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 74 51    raphael.sart@cnes.fr