August Investment Transactions
August 4 – Japan-based ispace Inc., a private lunar robotic exploration company, raised $46m in a Series C funding round led by Incubate Fund, taking to $195.5m the total amount raised by the company to date.
August 6, 12 – The Lightspeed low-Earth orbit satellite-based communications network being developed by Telesat attracted two significant investments. First, the Government of the Province of Ontario announced that it agreed to invest $109m Canadian in Lightspeed in exchange for dedicated capacity on the network at set rates and commitments from Telesat to increase its staff presence in Ontario by 35% and to invest $20m Canadian for expansion of its Ontario facilities. Later, the Government of Canada announced that it will invest $1.44b Canadian in Lightspeed, through a loan in the amount of $790m Canadian and the acquisition of $650m Canadian in preferred equity interests, in exchange for a commitment, among others, by Telesat to invest $1b Canadian in capital expenditures in Canada. With the two new investments, Telesat has raised roughly $4b Canadian of the estimated $5b Canadian needed to cover the cost of developing and deploying Lightspeed.
August 12 – OneWeb Communications Ltd. (OneWeb) announced that South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group (Hanwha) agreed to invest, through its defense division, Hanwha Systems Co., Ltd., $300m in OneWeb for an 8.8% ownership interest in the company. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first half of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals. According to OneWeb, the addition of Hanwha to OneWeb’s ownership group will afford the company valuable access to advanced defense and antenna technology. OneWeb has now raised a total of $2.7b in equity investments since emerging from bankruptcy in November of 2020.
