By Martin Schilling

When we put Europe’s leading New Space startups on stage last May, we knew they were onto something, but it is still thrilling to watch how fast they’re taking off.

Not long after its first test flight, TUM spinoff Isar Aerospace recently became a unicorn, with fresh funding that reads like a vote of confidence in Europe's space future. 

Isar Aerospace is also one of the five companies preselected to move forward with the European Launcher Challenge, an initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA) to make Europe’s access to space more robust by expanding European launch service supply.

As Orbex CEO Phillip Chambers noted on stage during DTM25, this is akin to what NASA did in 2006 when it launched the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program (COTS). This pivotal move was critical for SpaceX, and the ESA is now preparing to do the same for European launches, said Chambers, whose company is also moving on to the next step.

The other challengers are France’s Maiaspace, Spain’s PLD Space and fellow German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), another strong display of Europe’s capabilities and momentum. 

To learn more about these leaders in European New Space, what sets them apart, and why it matters, make sure to check out our full Catalyst Story.

VC firm Earlybird, one of Isar Aerospace’s early backers, is giving you, our newsletter readers, a unique chance to connect with investor Ferdinand Dansard through an exclusive mentoring session. To enter the draw, simply express your interest here.

Over the next decade, Europe will spend €5 billion to transport its astronauts to orbit, with the majority flowing directly into SpaceX's coffers. "This is really crazy," Victor Maier explained on stage at DTM25. But he also gave reasons to hope this will soon change.

Maier’s employer, The Exploration Company, is the lightning-fast startup behind reusable spacecraft Nyx, and secured a major contract, but there is still space for more innovators.

Opportunity to seize: Companies that offer viable alternatives to U.S. competitors will find a receptive ear, especially when taxpayer money is on the table.

Fuse Energy, a renewable energy company co-founded by former Revolut executives, is now reportedly a unicorn after raising a funding round that will support its entry into the domestic gas market.

VC firm Cambridge Innovation Capital, which invests in British Deep Tech and life sciences startups, committed €115 million to back University of Cambridge spinouts. 

Key takeaway: This is one more data point showing that European universities and research centers are one of the most valued deal flow sources for VCs; and further down the line, for M&As and other liquidity events. 

Having a business co-founder is not a must for pre-seed hardware startups, with investors favoring technical founders with commercial intuition. This is one of the findings of the 2025 Deep Tech Hardware Napkin released by VC firm First Momentum Ventures; and an encouragement to PhD entrepreneurs and other founders with technical backgrounds.

Based in Berlin and Zurich, Lyceum is building a sovereign GPU cloud platform — and has already raised €10.3M pre-seed round led by redalpine. Future of Computing interviewed its co-founder and CEO, Magnus Grünewald, about the future of GPU infrastructure in Europe.

Investor alert: Lyceum’s next funding round could be one to watch closely.

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