Denver-based spacetech startup Karman+, specializing in asteroid mining and resource utilization, has raised $20 million in seed funding, with the round co-led by Hummingbird Ventures and Plural.
- Founded in 2022 by Daynan Crull and Teun van den Dries, Karman+ is developing innovative technologies for asteroid mining and space resource utilization.
- The company focuses on creating scalable, low-cost missions to extract valuable resources from near-Earth asteroids, including regolith and water for refueling spacecraft in orbit.
- Karman+ is advancing autonomous technologies such as optical navigation for interplanetary missions and zero-gravity mining equipment for large-scale asteroid excavation. By leveraging off-the-shelf components tested for space, the company builds efficient spacecraft platforms and systems in-house, helping to keep mission costs low.
"Over the next two years, we are building the technology and infrastructure to make it possible to access materials in orbit and transform them into rocket fuel to supply the space economy. We believe the Regolith Age, powered by abundant space resources, is an inevitability that we can accelerate," claims Teun van den Dries, co-founder and CEO of Karman+.
Details of the deal
- The seed round was co-led by Plural, which recently secured its second fund of €400 million to drive a GDP-level impact in Europe, and Hummingbird Ventures, a London-based VC, with additional participation from HCVC, a Paris-based firm.
"Teun and Daynan are ripping up the space rulebook and using their previous startup experience to build a new type of asteroid mining company that will first tap into a great need: supplying water and fuel to existing space programs. I’m excited to partner with a successful, experienced founder on such a globally significant mission," Partner at Plural, Sten Tamkivi, commented.
- Karman+ will use the $20 million in seed funding to develop its first technology demonstration and customer missions set for 2027. The funds will support the development of autonomous operations, optical navigation, and mining equipment for asteroid excavation, as well as building the infrastructure to transform materials into rocket fuel for the space economy.
