Exploration Company, based in Munich and known as TEC, has raised $450 million in a Series C funding round. The financing was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico, and Scaleup Europe Fund, with existing investors also providing additional support.
Participants in the round included Balderton, Plural, Cherry, and Red River West. Bessemer partner Alex Ferrara will join TEC's board of directors. Thanks to this round, TEC's total funding has reached approximately $680 million, which the company calls the largest Series C round for a space company in Europe.
TEC was founded by Helen Habi in 2021 and currently employs over 550 people. The company's staff is distributed across Germany, France, Italy, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. The company was established by engineers with experience in major European space programs.
TEC's main focus is on the Nyx capsule, which is a reusable space capsule. This spacecraft is designed to deliver cargo to space stations and subsequently return to Earth. The company plans to send Nyx to the International Space Station. With significant capital, TEC intends to advance both the Nyx and Storm projects.
The realization of such a mission will mark an important European milestone. Currently, cargo delivery missions to the ISS are performed by systems such as SpaceX's Dragon and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus, both operated by American companies. Therefore, TEC aims to create independent European potential for orbital logistics.
Furthermore, the company is targeting future commercial space stations. After further certification and development of Nyx, it could potentially support crewed missions. TEC has already secured contracts and commitments worth over $2 billion.
Parallel to Nyx, Storm is being developed—a high-impulse reusable rocket engine intended for future heavy-lift missions. The engine uses liquid oxygen and biomethane as fuel and employs a full staged combustion cycle. This approach is technically complex; SpaceX uses a similar architecture for its Raptor engine line. TEC has planned several development stages for Storm, starting with subscale thrust chamber tests in the coming months.
Further testing will include verification of the oxygen-enriched thrust block. A full-scale engine test is expected later within the development program. The planned launcher will eventually be capable of putting up to 40 tons into low Earth orbit, strengthening Europe's position.
This latest funding reflects Europe's growing focus on strategic technological investments. Scaleup Europe Fund has become an important part of these efforts. This €5 billion fund is managed by EQT on behalf of the European Commission.
The fund has already supported major rounds of technology financing, and TEC is now another significant investment in Europe's developing technological ecosystem. The global space sector reached a volume of about $626 billion in 2025, and experts predict it will exceed $1 trillion within the next decade.
TEC aims to help European companies capture a larger share of this market. The company focuses on spacecraft development, propulsion technology advancement, and expanding commercial infrastructure in space. With the new funding, TEC plans to hire more personnel and scale up its operations.
European leaders also support this initiative. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, called this investment a sign of Europe's pursuit of technological leadership. This funding round also draws attention to the growth of female-led tech companies in the region.