This post was originally published on this site
Rocket builder and 3D-printing specialist Relativity Space is raising $500 million of fresh capital in a new round being led by Tiger Global Management, people familiar with the financing told CNBC on Tuesday.
The new fundraise, expected to close in the coming days, would jump Relativity’s valuation to $2.3 billion, those people said. In addition to Tiger Global, Fidelity is also joining the round as a new Relativity investor. Existing investors in Relativity are also expected to be contributing — those include Social Capital, Playground Global, Y Combinator, Bond Capital, Tribe Capital, Jared Leto and Mark Cuban.
Tiger Global, the hedge fund of investor Chase Coleman, has more than $40 billion in assets under management.
Relativity declined CNBC’s request for comment.
The company is building the first iteration of its Terran 1 rocket. But unlike other rockets, Relativity is using multiple 3D-printers, all developed in-house, to build Terran 1. The rocket is designed to have about 95% of its parts be 3D-printed, which allows Relativity’s rocket to be less complex, and faster to build or modify, than traditional rockets. Additionally, Relativity says its simpler process will eventually be capable of turning raw material into a rocket on the launchpad in under 60 days.
Relativity has made significant advances in developing and testing its 3D-printing technology this year, with more than 400 tests of its Aeon 1 rocket engine completed at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Additionally, this summer the company moved into a new headquarters in Long Beach, California.
Relativity’s new valuation is expected to make it one of the world’s most valuable private space companies after SpaceX, which commands a valuation above $44 billion after it raised capital in August.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.
