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Hello readers,
I love the mysteries of outer space so much that I’ve told friends that if there’s only one thing I would want before I die, it’s to know for sure whether we’re alone in the universe. And, as Arthur C. Clarke said, “both [possibilities] are equally terrifying.”
A man can dream, but I’m a little more realistic. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever discover the answer to that question in my lifetime, or even within hundreds of lifetimes. (If any aliens are reading this newsletter, feel free to let me know though!)
For now, I’ll make do with the incremental achievements that we have regarding spacetech, including the development of solutions to help us get better access to the moon. One startup that’s involved in this endeavor is Qosmosys, a Singapore-based firm that bagged a huge US$100 million seed round in October last year.
What could it be getting up to?
Today we look at:
- Qosmosys’ moon-faring ambitions
- A Singapore-based semiconductor company’s US$200 million series B round
- Other newsy highlights such as Twitch looking at layoffs and OKX Ventures’ investment in Polyhedra Network.
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According to the firm, Qosmosys’ US$100 million seed round was raised via a “unique and protective funding model.” That just makes me think: “Rich people investing in an apocalypse escape plan.” If climate change eventually renders Earth uninhabitable, at least they’ve got the moon to fall back on, right?
- Lightning from the gods: According to Qosmosys CEO François Dubrulle, the seed funds will be used to bankrollthe development of ZeusX, its flagship project that includes a space vehicle that can deliver cargo to the moon.
- Lending their weight: Qosmosys has some heavy hitters associated with it. Ghislain Le Chatelier, an angel investor and former Google executive, is a shareholder and board member. Meanwhile, it is working with European aerospace major Airbus for ZeusX..
- Booster rockets: The spacetech firm has also teamed up with Framatome, a France-based nuclear energy firm, to experiment with energy sources for ZeusX.
Read more: A look at the Singapore space startup said to have raised $100m in seed money
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