K2 Space, a California-based satellite company that recently set up an engineering hub in Seattle, has announced a $500 million funding round at a $6.8 billion valuation.
The Series D round was led by Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ, with participation from CapitalG, Lightspeed, Altimeter, Spark Capital, Sands Capital, ARK Invest, T. Rowe Price Associates and other existing investors.
Since its founding in 2022, K2 Space has raised more than $1 billion in capital and secured an equivalent amount in contracts.
While many satellite companies focus on miniaturization, K2 Space is going big on satellite mass and power. K2 had its first “mega-class” satellite, dubbed Gravitas, launched into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in March. The two-ton, 20-kilowatt satellite carried a dozen undisclosed payload modules for multiple customers, including the Department of Defense.
K2 is working with commercial satellite provider SES on spacecraft for its “meoSphere” network; with Anduril Industries on satellites for the Golden Dome missile defense system; and with the U.S. Space Force on its Protected Tactical Satcom-Global program.
Karan Kunjur, co-founder and CEO of K2 Space, said the new capital validates the company’s core strategy.
“When my brother Neel and I started K2 four years ago, we took a contrarian bet that building bigger would be the future for exploring and developing space,” Kunjur said today in a news release. “This latest round validates that thesis and gives us the capital to accelerate scaling as we prepare to build up to 100 large satellites per year.”
Read the full article here
