Lithuanian space tech Blackswan Space raises a €760k investment round

Blackswan Space, a Vilnius-based startup developing software products for complex space & defense missions, has raised €760,000 in a pre-seed funding round. The investment was led by Scale Wolf and will be used to grow the startup’s engineering staff and scale its commercial activities.

• Founded in 2019, Blackswan Space offers two products:
  • Mission Design Simulator (MDS) a software solution that allows customers to simulate complex spacecraft maneuvers, be it for in-orbit servicing, object retrieval missions, space domain awareness,  adversary spacecraft risks or satellite constellations in real-time. 
  • Vision Based Navigation (VBN) hardware payload running proprietary algorithms, which enables spacecrafts to perform autonomous navigation maneuvers when control from the ground is not possible.

• The final vision is to create an autonomous software verification and validation platform called ACE connecting all the above into a one-stop-shop to make sure your space mission goes as planned. Currently, the company is serving several industrial and institutional customers ranging from satellite mission integrators to the European Space Agency.

We are in a strong position to solve one of the major problems and opportunities facing the space economy today – the growing number of satellites and other space infrastructure in orbit that will be impossible to control all from the ground,

Marius Klimavicius, co-founder and CEO of Blackswan Space, stated.

• The funding round was led by the Vilnius-based Scale Wolf VC, a venture capital fund and accelerator focusing on defense tech companies. The firm collaborates with the Lithuanian Ministry of Economy and Innovation to help select regional companies build and grow their dual-use technology businesses.
• Participants included Linas Sargautis, co-founder of NanoAvionics, Lemonade Stand, an early stage deep tech VC fund investing in B2B technology startups in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, Baltic Sandbox Ventures, a Lithuanian early-stage VC fund specialising in life science and deep tech, and Vladas Lašas, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor.

With the new infusion of capital, the company is set to accelerate MDS and VBN development and commercial activities in 2024, preparing for in-orbit demonstration of its core technologies in the next few years.