April's Space Dirt 🚀

Looks like 2025 is in full swing.

Sharing lots of good stuff this month.

Let’s go!

REAL ESTATE HIGHLIGHTS

Amca leased 5,024 SF at 130 Arena Street, El Segundo, CA. This is the former Northwood Space home. (source: Me!)

Mesh Optical Technologies leased 15,580 SF at 349 W 168th Street, Gardena, CA. This is GrayMatter Robotics’ former office. (source: Me!)

Shinkei leased 14,888 SF at 1301 El Segundo Blvd, El Segundo, CA. (source: Me!)

Anduril signed a 313,244 SF lease at Lake Center Office Park in Santa Ana, CA. The industrial campus is currently under construction and is a mile from Anduril’s Costa Mesa HQ. This brings Anduril’s Orange County footprint to approximately 1.1 million SF. (source: The Orange County Business Journal)

Firehawk Aerospace is doubling the size of its Midland, TX, test site. The company extended its relationship with Midland Development Corp (“MDC”), signing a two-year lease agreement for 18.69 acres of MDC-owned land north of State Highway 191 and west of Midland. (source: mrt)

Provo, UT-based Care Weather is building a satellite factory in Springville, UT, according to its CEO, Patrick Walton (above). (source: X)

Raven Defense signed a new lease at 5411 Jefferson St NE, Albuquerque, NM, for 33,987 SF, expanding its operations to enable workforce, product development, and inventory storage expansion. (source: Business Journals)

FleetGlue has moved to Newlab in Detroit, MI. “We're proud to be at the heart of American manufacturing and help this beautiful nation reindustrialize,” said FleetGlue Co-founder and CEO, Daniel Pereira. (source: LinkedIn)

STEALTH NO MORE

Advanced Manufacturing Company of America (Amca) emerged from stealth. They raised $76.5 million in funding from Caffeinated Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Construct Capital, and others. Amca is rapidly developing and acquiring a foundation of critical products that will power the next fifty years of aerospace and defense. Here’s the LinkedIn announcement from Founder, Jai Malik. (source: Amca)

Scout AI emerged from stealth with $15 million in funding from Booz Allen Ventures, Align Ventures, Draper Associates, Decisive Point, and others. It also has Pentagon commitments. Scout AI co-founders Colby Adcock and Collin Otis want to, in their words, make large robotic armies a reality for the good guys. Here’s the LinkedIn announcement from Co-Founder & CTO, Collin Otis. Colby Adcock is the Co-Founder & CEO. (source: Axios)

Gallatin AI emerged from stealth, unveiling $15 million in funding and software, its CEO, Woody Glier, said, will streamline frontline logistics. Gallatin was incubated through 8VC. Other backers include Silent Ventures, Moonshots Capital, Timeless Partners, and Banter Capital. Navigator, the company's digital planner, was built using Palantir Technologies' Foundry. It aims to be predictive, not reactionary, offering users AI-generated advice, simulation tools, and insights on how quickly stocks are chewed through. (source: Axios)

Founded in 2024 by leaders formerly of Amazon Robotics, iRobot, and the US Navy, autonomous shipmaker Blue Water launches from stealth with $14 million in seed funding from Eclipse Ventures, Riot, and Impatient Ventures. Here is Co-Founder & CEO Ryan Hamilton’s LinkedIn announcement. (source: Eclipse Ventures)

Hexium emerged from stealth with $9.5 million in seed funding and $2.5 million in a credit facility, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. MaC Venture Capital and Refactor led the round, with Humba Ventures, Julian Capital, Overture VC, and R7 Partners participating. Hexium is building the next generation of isotope enrichment technology to fuel the nuclear renaissance, starting with lithium. Congrats to Co-Founder and CEO, Charlie Jarrott. (source: TechCrunch)

Cosmic Robotics backer HCVC announced that Cosmic has emerged from stealth. Cosmic recently raised a $4 million pre-seed round, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. The round was led by Giant Ventures with participation from HCVC, MaC Ventures, and several angel investors, including Azeem Azhar, Aarthi Ramamurthy, and Nate Williams. Cosmic Robotics’ robots could speed up solar panel deployments in solar farms. James Emerick is a Co-Founder and the CEO. (source: TechCrunch)

Applied Atomics announced an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed round led by Alpaca Ventures. It also included participation from Unruly Capital, Fred Stutzer, Zach Dunn, Jonathan Lund, SLC4 Ventures, and MARS Partners. Applied Atomics builds small modular reactor (SMR) powerplants for advanced applications like hyperscalers, e-fuels, desalination, liquified natural gas, and hydrogen production. These technologies enable the carbon-free future that Earth requires to thrive. Here’s Co-Founder and CEO Ben Kellie’s LinkedIn announcement. (source: Ignition)

Poseidon Aerospace emerged from stealth this week via a post from Co-CEO David Zagaynov, introducing Seagull, an uncrewed sea glider inspired by the Soviet-era Caspian Sea Monster. The SF-based startup is reviving ekranoplan technology, using ground effect to reduce drag and increase lift, for modern logistics applications. The plane flies a few meters above water and can carry payloads up to 100 pounds of high-priority cargo like medical supplies. Poseidon raised a $1.4 million pre-seed round led by Starship Ventures and is preparing to test with the US Navy and Coast Guard this summer. (source: Aviation Week)

General Matter emerged from stealth with an X post. The company is enriching uranium in America to fill the nuclear fuel gap. General Matter has been incubated within Founders Fund, with a team from SpaceX, Tesla, Anduril, national labs, and the DOD. “We are undertaking an engineering challenge which, if successful, will fundamentally improve the trajectory of our nation. The raw material is embedded in the bedrock beneath our feet. America’s future is written in stone.” Founders Fund Partner, Scott Nolan, is the CEO. (source: X)

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REAL ESTATE CORNER

As many of you know, the SoCal Hard Tech Landscape map is constantly evolving. Here’s the latest as of about one week ago, or as I like to think of it, a Q1 2025 snapshot. Thanks for all of the feedback.

Email me for a PDF of this version.

-Erik

NOTABLE FUNDINGS

Base Power Company announced a $200 million Series B funding round, led by Addition, a16z, Lightspeed, and Valor, with support from existing investors Thrive, Altimeter, Trust Ventures, and Terrain. Lee Fixel of Addition will join Antonio Gracias of Valor on our board. Base’s mission is to fix the power grid and enable affordable & reliable electricity for all. To do that, they are building America’s Next-Generation Power Company; the first engineering-led, technology-focused, R&D-driven electricity company. (source: Base Power Company)

After raising hundreds of millions of dollars, going public, and then losing 99% of its $2.1B valuation, Astra has raised $80 million, according to its Founder and CEO, Chris Kemp. The money was used to buy out shareholders, pay some hefty transaction and legal fees, remove secured lenders and refinance the company. “We then subsequently won a big Department of Defense contract and then we subsequently have gotten the company to have a profitable satellite engine business and we're taking those profits, we're reinvesting them back in the launch business and we're now in a really good position,” Kemp said. (source: Core Memory)

Seattle-based Brinc announced $75 million in new funding and a strategic alliance with Motorola Solutions, aiming to expand production and accelerate deployment of its emergency response drones for police and other US public safety agencies. Under the alliance, Motorola will become a distributor of Brinc’s products. The companies will also integrate elements of their hardware and software — for example, allowing Motorola radios to dispatch drones from citywide Brinc 911 response drone networks. Brinc’s new funding round was led by its existing investor, Index Ventures, with significant participation from Motorola, according to the company. Other investors in the round included Mike Volpi and Figma CEO Dylan Field. (source: GeekWire)

CesiumAstro, a leader in advanced space communications, has been selected for a SpaceWERX STRATFI opportunity to advance the Element satellite for SDA Missions with potential funding of up to $55 million. Element satellite is a fully integrated platform designed for next-generation defense and commercial space communications, including missions aligned with the SDA. (source: CesiumAstro)

Aetherflux raised $50 million from Index Ventures and Interlagos. Investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, Vlad Tenev, Dan Gallagher, Jared Leto, Laurent and François-Paul Journe, and others. They were also recently awarded our first government funding. Its team is focused on subscale testing of core technologies leading to a space demonstration in 2026. (source: Aetherflux)

Allen Control Systems (ACS), a leader in autonomous precision robotics for defense, announced it has raised a $30 million Series A led by Craft Ventures with participation from existing investors Inspired Capital and Rally Ventures. The capital will accelerate ACS’ engineering growth and support the deployment of Bullfrog™, the company’s autonomous robotic weapon station designed to counter the rise of unmanned threats on the modern battlefield and drive responsible national security. (source: Business Wire)

Ground station startup Northwood Space raised $30 million. Financing was led by Alpine Space Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, with Also Capital, Founders Fund, and StepStone Group joining as major investors, and participation from BoxGroup, Humba Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, Banter Capital, Long Journey, Aabid Razvi, Evan Loomis, and Adrian Aoun. (source: Data Center Dynamics)

Arena announced a $30 million Series B. Investors included Fifth Down Capital, Initialized Capital, Goldcrest Capital, Shield Capital, Founders Fund, Garuda Ventures, Friends & Family Capital, 137 Ventures, 9Yards Capital, Peter Thiel, and General David H. Petraeus. (source: LinkedIn)

Parallel Systems, maker of self-powered railcars, lands $38 million. The growth investment will be used to commercialize the autonomous freight cars, with the aim of nabbing short-haul loads from truckers. Early backer Anthos Capital led the series B financing round, joined by Collaborative Fund, Congruent Ventures, and other investors, according to Parallel. (source: Wall St Journal)

Supersonic engine and aircraft manufacturing company, Astro Mechanica, announced that it has raised $27.1 million in funding, co-led by a16z, Lowercarbon, and Giant Step, with significant participation from Alumni and Voyager. (source: Tectonic Defense)

In one of the largest seed investment rounds by a space startup in the past decade, Portal Space Systems raised $17.5 million to support the development and demonstration of its debut Supernova spacecraft. AlleyCorp led the round, which included additional participation from Mach33, FUSE, First In, TFX, Offline Ventures, and Atypical. (source: Payload)

Durin Mining Technologies has raised $3.4 million in a pre-seed round led by 8090 Industries, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Also participating were 1517, Andreessen Horowitz, Bedrock, Champion Hill, Contrary, Day One Ventures, and Lux Capital. Durin is marrying robotics with drilling rigs to create automated drill rigs in an attempt to drive down the cost of critical minerals exploration. (source: TechCrunch)

Farcast, a satcom startup developing next-generation user terminals, secured a $2 million investment from Lockheed Martin as part of an ongoing Series A extension round. Under the agreement, Lockheed Martin landed an observer seat on Farcast’s board. That involvement will give the defense prime an up-close view of the startup’s growth plans, and the ability to better align its hardware and software ecosystem with Farcast’s tech. (source: Payload)

United Airlines Ventures announced an investment in blended wing body (BWB) aircraft startup JetZero. The investment includes a path to order up to 100 airplanes and an option for an additional 100. The conditional purchase agreement is based on JetZero achieving development milestones, including flight of a full-scale demonstrator in 2027, among other conditions, including that the aircraft meet United's safety, business, and operating requirements. (source: JetZero)

AGREEMENTS, PARTNERSHIPS, & CONTRACTS

Karman Holdings, a leader in the rapid design, development, and production of next-generation technologies to combat near-peer nation state threats, focused on critical, integrated systems for the hypersonic, missile defense, UAV and space sectors, announced it has acquired Metal Technology Inc. (“MTI”), a leader in highly engineered products utilizing refractory alloys, for strategic missile programs, which includes nozzles, EM shielding, energetic liners, gas generators, shape charges and actuation systems, for $90 million in cash. (source: CityBiz)

Saronic announced that it has acquired Gulf Craft, a shipbuilder on the Louisiana coast, to accelerate its growth into autonomous shipbuilding. The company also unveiled a new 150-foot medium USV (MUSV) called Marauder, which will be prototyped out of Gulf Craft’s facilities. The acquisition adds nearly 100 acres to Saronic’s footprint, supporting both immediate MUSV development and production as well as capacity for significant expansion. Saronic plans to invest more than $250 million directly into the shipyard, which will encompass large facility upgrades that will enable it to apply a first-principles approach to shipbuilding. (source: Medium)

Katalyst Space Technologies has announced its acquisition of Atomos Space, a strategic move to accelerate and expand its in-space servicing capabilities. Katalyst plans to continue operating the 20,000 square foot facility in Broomfield, CO, where Atomos builds and tests its flagship spacecraft, Quark. Key members of the Atomos team will join Katalyst following the transaction, including Atomos co-founder Vanessa Clark. Katalyst will continue to operate both in Broomfield, CO, and remain headquartered in Flagstaff, AZ. (source: Katalyst Space)

SpinLaunch announced a $12 million strategic investment from Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, unveiling Meridian Space, an ultra-high-performance, low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband constellation. The constellation can uniquely provide global coverage with only one traditional rocket launch deploying 250 next-generation microsatellites that leverage a proprietary suite of groundbreaking technologies. (source: BusinessWire)

Astroscale US, a leading provider of on-orbit services and logistics across all orbits, will conduct two refueling operations of a US Department of Defense (DoD) satellite in geostationary orbit (GEO) for the United States Space Force (USSF). This mission will demonstrate the ability of commercial Servicing, Mobility and Logistics providers to deliver on-orbit capabilities supporting the warfighter. The Astroscale US Refueler is manifested to launch in the summer of 2026.  The Astroscale US Refueler will be the first spacecraft to conduct hydrazine refueling operations above GEO and will be the first-ever on-orbit refueling mission supporting a DoD asset. (source: Astroscale)

Picogrid announced that it has won a new $2.7 million award from the US Air Force to modernize command and control capabilities. The Department of Defense often relies on multiple separate systems to manage operations, each with its own interface and dedicated operator. Under the $2.7 million award, Picogrid deployed an interoperable network of sensor nodes to monitor roadways, critical infrastructure, and natural resource areas. The project is funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory. (source: Picogrid)

Outpost Space awarded a $1.8 million DAF contract for the AFRL Rocket Cargo Vanguard Program to advance deployable heat shield technology for shipping container-size deliveries from space from the US Space Force SPACEWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. (source: BusinessWire)

Pacific Defense, the leader in C5ISR Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) products and integrated mission systems, has been selected for the contract definition phase of the United States Army’s CMOSS Mounted Form Factor (CMFF) Mounted Common Infrastructure (MCI), an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract evaluation. This phase aligns contract work scope and deliverables, fostering innovation and successful program execution post-contract award. Leading a team of select industry partners that includes Thales Defense & Security Inc., BAE Systems, Palantir, MAXISIQ, Regal Technology Partners, and STC, an Arcfield company, Pacific Defense is ready to deploy a comprehensive capability set to accelerate the US Army's vision for CMFF. (source: Pacific Defense)

Medium-duty electric vehicle manufacturer Harbinger announced it has achieved the official start of production (SOP) for its American-made electric vehicles and has manufactured more than 100 units for customers. First in line customers and dealers for these vehicles include THOR Industries, the world's largest recreational vehicle (RV) manufacturer, ETHERO Truck + Energy, Bruckner's Truck, and more. The company has reached this production milestone just four years after it was founded in February 2021. (source: PR Newswire)

Arc announced a new partnership with Portland shipyard Diversified Marine Inc to bring the first electric truckable tugboat to the Port of Los Angeles. They’re retrofitting a 26-foot-long tug, building it for high-performance, zero-emission operations — ushering in a new era of electric workboats at the Western Hemisphere’s busiest port and beyond. (source: Arc)

Cambium launched a new high-temperature resin system for aerospace manufacturers that reduces hypersonic parts fabrication by 70-80%. The same resin system also brings significant benefits to ablative applications, from solid rocket motor nozzles to ship vertical launch tubes. (source: PR Newswire)

WHAT I’M CONSUMING (AND ENJOYING!) 

🏴 If you’ve been reading Space Dirt for a while, you’ll recognize a bunch of the names on the Black Flag 100: Celebrating one hundred next-gen deep tech companies. Nominated by over 300 current deep tech founders.

🎈 Henry Kwan’s latest Substack chronicles Alphabet X’s Project Loon rise and fall. Project Loon’s ambitious rise and eventual closure in 2021 highlight both the promise and harsh realities of conquering the stratosphere, leaving a foundation of knowledge that may yet inspire future innovations.

🕹 Two interesting drone articles from Nathan Mintz's always informative Substack: From 1v1 to One v Many and Love Me, Tender: Drone Edition.

👨‍🏭 In his latest Substack, Manufacturing Startups, Co-founder/COO of Base Power, Justin Lopas, breaks down the three distinct business models he sees in the hard tech manufacturing arena, defining categories, giving examples of companies in said category, and sharing some thoughts about the business models of some of these ventures.

HOW I CAN HELP YOU

Some people only know me as “that Space Dirt newsletter guy.” Although I love that moniker, here are 3* ways I can help with your hard tech real estate when the time is right.

1. A new home for your growing business. The good news - you’re growing! The bad news - you need to move, and you don’t know the hard tech real estate market. I can help. And I come with strong references.

2. Sublease your space. You’ve outgrown your space and need to move but don’t want to pay two rents? I got you.

3. Time to renew your lease? Want to make sure you’re getting a fair deal from your Landlord? In my experience, you can never be too certain. (BTW, I recommend starting the lease renewal process 12 months out at a minimum.)

*Not an exhaustive list 💪

Thanks for reading.

If you’d like your office and/or manufacturing space or business profiled - or even your city! - let me know. It’s always fun to explore and share the different components of the hard tech industry.

Erik Stiebel
Founder and Vice President
CA DRE License #02080746
424.241.4795 | [email protected] 
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