Executives in the space industry foresee a new wave of investment and consolidation, described by one as a “more thoughtful” approach compared to the previous surge five years ago. At the Space Mobility conference on January 28th, panelists discussed renewed investment and potential merger and acquisition (M&A) activity.
“I think we are entering a more thoughtful version of 2020 from an industry perspective,” said Andrew Rush, co-founder and chief executive of Star Catcher. Star Catcher, a space-to-space power beaming company, raised over $12 million last year. Rush, formerly CEO of Made In Space, highlighted the previous investment wave, including venture capital and SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies). Investment significantly decreased after 2021 due to higher interest rates and poor SPAC performance.
However, positive indicators include Stoke Space's $260 million Series C round, Redwire's $925 million acquisition of Edge Autonomy, and Voyager Technologies’ confidential IPO filing. “I think we will see folks leverage the public markets for growth capital,” Rush stated, referencing Voyager’s plans, “as well as mature businesses with more traditional fundamentals.”
“We are very confident that we are going to see an increase in IPO activity in 2025,” added Andrew Magliochetti, co-founder and managing partner of IronGate Capital Advisors. “We’re already seeing M&A activity increase within our portfolio.” He predicted increased “consolidation and aggregation,” emphasizing that inorganic growth is necessary for enduring companies. “I think we’re in a five-year period where there’s going to be quite a bit of M&A.”
Clare Martin, executive vice president of Astroscale U.S., echoed this sentiment, noting the previous investment boom and anticipating consolidation. Chris Carella, founding partner of Entra Mantra, compared past investments to a raffle, contrasting it with the current more informed investment climate. “There’s an opportunity, I think, to capture the reenergized investment,” he said. “There’s going to be well-informed investment and well-informed customers with a lot more clarity than there used to be.”