ATMOS, a German NewSpace startup, has snapped €4 million in an oversubscribed round with investments from renowned industry leaders including lead investors High-Tech Gründerfonds, which backed Proxima Fusion and Intelligent Fluids, and the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, alongside Seraphim, E2MC, VENTIS, and another.vc.
Demo flight in 2024
The seed funding will enable ATMOS to carry out its first demonstration flight at the end of 2024. During this milestone flight, it will return a microgravity experiment from low Earth orbit with its Phoenix return capsule.
Sebastian Klaus, CEO and Co-Founder of ATMOS Space Cargon said: “What excites me about life sciences in space is that everyone on Earth can – and will – benefit from it. Solving this challenge requires leadership and the best team. I am proud to do this with the best Co-Founders I could wish for, backed by experienced advisors and world-class investors. We are highly focused now on flying to orbit and returning safely back to Earth before the end of next year. This funding will take us there.”
Christian Ziach, Principal at HTGF added: “The ATMOS Space Cargo team has a proven track record of successfully executing the most challenging aerospace projects, which is why I am pleased to be leading this round of funding alongside The Amadeus APEX Technology Fund.”
Andreas Riegler, Founding Partner at APEX Ventures stated: “ATMOS Space Cargo aligns with our commitment to invest in cutting-edge technologies that can make space more sustainable. We believe the company has demonstrated a laser-focused vision that will advance space transportation capabilities. We are confident that this funding will propel it to becoming a major player in the global space industry.”
Maureen Haverty, Vice President at Seraphim Space stated: “We’ve heard time and time again that the real bottleneck in space life sciences R&D is the time taken to launch and return from the ISS, which makes research far too slow. ATMOS free flyer and return will solve this, eventually scaling to frequent and flexible return from space.”
Raphael Röttgen, Managing Partner E2MC commented: “Manufacturing in space, especially for life sciences, has significant economic and positive impact potential. The ATMOS team and its unique technology have everything to make regular, commercial in-space manufacturing and Earth return a reality. We are excited to help them make it happen.”
Another feather to its cap!
The closure of the seed funding adds yet another success for the NewSpace startup. The company has been part of the ESA Business Incubation Centre since 2021. It won the best startup pitch at the ESA Investor Forum in Berlin in 2022 and has been in a partnership with the Institute of Space Systems Stuttgart, Germany’s premier academic institution for atmospheric re-entry, for several years.
ATMOS’s patented Phoenix capsule
ATMOS was founded by Sebastian Klaus, an aerospace engineer and pilot with over 10 years of leadership experience as a former officer in the German military. Sebastian has developed and submitted several patented technologies for entry and descent.
ATMOS specialises in the development and manufacturing of space capsules capable of safely returning any cargo from space, regardless of scale. Its highly innovative Phoenix capsules represent the first sustainable solution for a large range of payloads and experiments. Its patented Phoenix return capsule represents a scalable solution to growing market demands, likely to broaden access to space and microgravity within the next 24 months.
They have been designed to offer microgravity on-demand ranging from three hours to three months in orbit. These capsules open up unprecedented opportunities for a wide array of applications, including biomedical and material sciences research, In-Orbit Demonstration and Verification (IOD/IOV), and the manufacturing of products in space.
