For the first time ever, Europe has surpassed the US in private spacetech investment, according to newresearch.
The whole of North America, meanwhile, raised $456m.
Asia followed, with investments of $306m, while the rest of the world totalled around $29m.
The figures made Europe the worlds biggest market for private spacetechfunding.
The quarterly investment in Europe hit almost 50% of the entire previous year.
In contrast, US investment has fallen further compared to 2022.
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Over the previous year, the economic downturn had pushed funding down to levels last seen before 2021.
According to Seraphim, growth investors have shifted towards earlier-stage deals to avoid high burn rates and capital requirements.
Growth-stagestartupshave also delayed fundraising.
Instead, theyve sought alternative financing sources and tried to extend runways until economic conditions improve.
Despite these challenges, Seraphim gave cause for optimism about spacetech funding.
For one, investment and deal numbers remain well above historical norms.
After adjusting for these outliers, Seraphim ranked Q1 2023 as the fifth-highest funding quarter to date.
Overall, activity in thespaceeconomy appears sustained.
As a global investor, whats really exciting for us to see is the growth of activity in Europe.
One reason for that excitement is found in spacetechs biggest deals.
The German rocket maker is the first European company to lead Serpahims rankings since OneWeb in Q3 2021.
Indeed, the continents entire spacetech sector has been boosted by a push for sovereign capabilities.
For investors, sovereign support for startups in emerging geographies can reduce their perceived financial risks.
If the backing yields results, European spacetech could continue expanding across the cosmos.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
