A startup employing a novel approach to space-based solar power, Aetherflux, has successfully secured $50 million in Series A funding. This significant investment round, spearheaded by Index Ventures and Interlagos, also involved participation from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and other investors.
Aetherflux's innovative plan involves a constellation of satellites designed to collect solar energy and transmit it wirelessly to Earth using lasers. This differs significantly from earlier space-based solar power concepts, which relied on massive spacecraft in geostationary orbit and microwave transmission.
Baiju Bhatt, Aetherflux's founder and CEO, highlighted the iterative nature of their design as a key differentiator. In a previous interview, he stated, “Our main observation is the reason it hasn’t happened is because that design is not one that you can iterate on.” Bhatt, also co-founder of Robinhood, initially self-funded the company with approximately $10 million.
The company's announcement reveals successful laboratory demonstrations of power transmission, paving the way for a planned demonstration mission set for launch in 2026. The new funding will expedite their progress, with defense identified as an early target market. This aligns with a 2007 report by the former National Security Space Office endorsing the concept, though the Defense Department didn't fully act on the recommendations. Aetherflux also obtained government funding through the Defense Department’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF) for a proof-of-concept focused on power transmission from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Jan Hammer, a partner at Index Ventures, acknowledged the inherent complexities of space-based solar power, stating, “On the surface, the business he described seemed wildly complex — launching satellites with solar panels into orbit and wirelessly transmitting power around the globe — to say nothing of the regulatory and compliance challenges.” Despite these challenges, he expressed confidence in Aetherflux’s approach, concluding, “This is a big bet, but it’s the kind of bet we like — on a founder we know and trust, tackling a problem that matters, with a plan grounded in reality. The future of energy is in space.”