Seed17 December 2020

Magdrive secures £1.4m seed funding from Founders Fund to advance space propulsion technology.

The seed round was led by Founders Fund with participation from several investors and a public grant.

£1.4MSeed

Magdrive develops miniature plasma thrusters designed to provide high thrust and efficiency for small satellites. The technology aims to enable new types of space missions and facilitate interplanetary travel.

Magdrive has raised £1.4m in a seed funding round led by Founders Fund, with participation from Entrepreneur First, 7percent Ventures, Luminous Ventures, and Innovate UK. The capital will be directed towards accelerating the development of an in-orbit demonstration of the company's plasma thruster at its Oxfordshire facility.

Formed in late 2019, the British space propulsion startup is focused on advancing plasma thruster systems for small satellites. The latest injection of funds follows a period that saw the firm accepted into both the Entrepreneur First accelerator and the European Space Agency Business Incubator.

Investor perspective

"We are thrilled to back this innovative group out of the UK, there have been many attempts at small satellite propulsion innovation over the past decade, but they have been marginal improvements on pre-existing technology, Magdrive is the first step-change improvement offering the best of chemical and electric propulsion in a single system."