A South West-headquartered aerospace and defence technology company has secured investment from regional private equity and real assets investment manager Foresight Group.
The investment into SpaceAM follows a period of rapid progress for the business, which is developing ultra-lightweight autonomous sensing systems for deployment in contested and extreme environments.
Over the past months, SpaceAM has secured contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
It has also been selected as one of 13 ‘future British defence unicorns’ receiving UK Government support through a new scheme designed to help grow future British defence technology businesses, expanded its team to 13 people and established new R&D facilities in Gloucestershire.
The funding follows SpaceAM’s success in securing a multi-million contract with the UK MOD to boost rapid procurement and deliver cutting-edge technology for the UK Armed Forces.
Foresight’s backing was said to support SpaceAM as it develops its product range, strengthens its governance and prepares for the next phase of growth.
SpaceAM, as an innovation-led business operating at the intersection of defence technology, AI and advanced sensing, aligns closely with Foresight Ventures’ strategy of backing companies commercialising significant scientific and engineering innovation from Seed to Series A.
Chris Isaac, CEO and founder of SpaceAM, said: “We always knew there was value in our approach to autonomous sensor systems, creating the perfect synergy between hardware, software and AI, all in-house and all in the UK.
“Having Foresight on board does not just give us the capital to develop our product range, it gives us the structure and governance to start scaling. This is a clear signal to the market that we are preparing for a Series A round to scale at pace.”
Andy Callen, chair of SpaceAM, and former co-founder of Callen-Lenz, added: “I am delighted to be joining the board as chair and to be working alongside Chris and Foresight. The company has built impressive momentum in a short period of time, supported by strong customer engagement and a differentiated technology platform.
“The close of this funding round shows a huge endorsement by both the UK Government and a big-ticket UK institutional investor and will be transformative in scaling SpaceAM into a powerhouse of UK Space and Defence innovation.”
Rubina Singh, investment director at Foresight Group, said: “SpaceAM has developed a differentiated sovereign autonomous sensing technology platform that addresses increasingly important needs across defence and security markets, with further applications across many other industries.
“Chris and the team have made strong progress in a short period of time, demonstrating an ability to translate technical innovation rapidly into customer engagement and contract wins at an early stage. We look forward to supporting the business as it accelerates product development, strengthens its governance and prepares for its next stage of growth.”