Arielle Zuckerberg firm invests in French space tech company Dark

Eurazeo SE

16/04/2024 01:00

By Sudip Kar-Gupta
       PARIS, April 16 (Reuters) - Arielle Zuckerberg, younger
sister of Meta  META.O  chief Mark Zuckerberg, has invested in
French space technology company Dark via her venture capital
firm Long Journey, the latest instance of a surge in funding for
companies in the space sector. 
    Long Journey said Dark, which aims to prevent space debris
from defunct satellites and the like from falling back to Earth,
fitted with its portfolio of companies involved in space tech
and followed its investments in Elon Musk's SpaceX and U.S.
defence technology company Anduril.
    "Anduril and SpaceX have reshaped entire industries through
their bold ventures into uncharted territories," Zuckerberg,
Long Journey general partner, said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Dark, committed to advancing space security, shares this
pioneering spirit as category-creators in this exciting new
industry." 
    The statement said French investment company Eurazeo
 EURA.PA  had led the latest fundraising for Dark totalling $6
million, in which Long Journey had participated, taking Dark's
total of early stage funding to $11 million, though it did not
say how much Long Journey had invested. 
    It also did not say what size of stake Eurazeo and Long
Journey had bought. The companies added that venture capital
firm Frst, which had already invested in Dark, had also
participated in the latest fundraising.    
    The fundraising for Dark comes as the European Union and
France try to ensure Europe keeps pace with the United States
and China in terms of space technology, and reflects a trend of
investment in the space sector generally.      
    Venture capital firm Space Capital said this month that
funding for space startups rose to $6.5 billion in the first
quarter ended March 31, up from $2.9 billion a year earlier.

 (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by David Holmes)
 ((sudip.kargupta@thomsonreuters.com))