Stoke Space secures $260M in Series C Funding

Stoke Space secures $260M in Series C Funding
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 20, 2025

Stoke Space, a leading company advancing fully reusable medium-lift rocket technology, has announced a successful $260 million Series C funding round. This latest investment more than doubles the company's total funding to $480 million, fueling its ongoing development and expansion efforts.

The funding round included participation from a mix of new and returning investors such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Industrious Ventures, Leitmotif, Point72 Ventures, Seven Seven Six, the University of Michigan, Woven Capital, and Y Combinator, among others.

The new funding highlights increasing confidence in Stoke's groundbreaking approach to low-cost, on-demand space transportation. The company's innovative reusable rocket solutions are designed to make frequent and cost-effective space access a reality.

"We deeply appreciate the confidence investors have placed in Stoke and our mission," said Andy Lapsa, CEO and co-founder of Stoke Space. "This new investment validates our progress and enables us to accelerate the development of technologies that will redefine access to and from space."

The funding announcement follows Stoke's recent milestone-a successful vertical test firing of its Zenith engine at its advanced testing facility in Moses Lake, Washington. The Zenith engine's full-flow staged combustion design, known for its superior efficiency, places Stoke among a select few organizations to have achieved such an engineering feat. In addition, Stoke has developed the world's first actively cooled metallic reentry heat shield, integrated into its upper-stage engine for rapid and full reusability.

"Rapid and reliable reuse of a rocket's upper stage is the last big challenge to solve before mobility to and from space becomes akin to other forms of transportation," Lapsa added. "It represents a significant inflection in the space economy, and in turn opens the door to an incredible set of business opportunities that make life more vibrant on and off Earth."

Stoke plans to utilize the new funds for several key initiatives, including the continued development of its Nova launch vehicle. This effort includes upgrades to its manufacturing headquarters and test facilities as well as preparations for launch operations at the historic Launch Complex 14 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The site, allocated to Stoke by the U.S. Space Force, was famously used for John Glenn's Friendship 7 mission in 1962, which marked the first orbit of an American astronaut.