Dana Baki from The Exploration Company at the Future Investments Circle Dubai, September 7
SPACE & SPACE ECONOMY
The Exploration Company Raises $450M — Then Wins €760M From ESA
The Exploration Company (TEC) — whose Dana Baki joined our Intelligent Machines panel in Dubai on 7 September — capped the month with the largest Series C ever raised by a European space company. The €387M ($450M) round, co-led by Bessemer, Atomico, and EQT's Scaleup Europe Fund, brings total funding to ~$680M for its reusable Nyx cargo capsule and Storm engine. Days later, ESA awarded TEC a €760M cargo-return contract — the payoff to the raise.
What happened
TEC raised a $450M Series C (co-led by Bessemer, Atomico, Scaleup Europe Fund) — the largest ever for a European space company; total funding ~$680M.
Days later, ESA awarded TEC a €760M contract for ISS cargo-return services, its largest capsule contract to a European firm in open competition.
The capital funds Nyx (a reusable capsule targeting ISS docking and return by 2028) and the Storm reusable engine.
Why it matters
TEC is Europe's clearest sovereign alternative to SpaceX for cargo — and eventually crew — return.
The raise-then-contract sequence de-risks the commercial thesis in a way few space startups manage.
A $2B+ backlog (10 Nyx missions booked) signals real institutional demand, not just narrative.
For investors
TEC (private) is the marquee European space-sovereignty bet as EU capital chases strategic autonomy.
ESA validation gives it an anchor customer rare at this stage.
Risk: two hard programs at once (capsule + engine), with Nyx's orbital demo not due until late 2028.
Read more: TechCrunch (September 8, 2026)
SPACE & SPACE ECONOMY
Open Cosmos Joins the Unicorns as "New Space" Capital Floods In
Days after TEC's record round, UK satellite maker Open Cosmos raised €300M (~$346M), vaulting past a $1B valuation to become Europe's newest space unicorn. Co-led by Lightrock and ETF Partners, the round funds sovereign satellite manufacturing and Earth-observation services. It caps a remarkable stretch: more than $16.5B has flowed into space startups globally this year, as SpaceX's IPO pulls a wave of new capital — and new vehicles — toward orbit.
What happened
Open Cosmos raised €300M (~$346M) at a $1B+ valuation, co-led by Lightrock and ETF Partners, with UK government backing.
The round funds sovereign satellite manufacturing and its OpenConstellation and DataCosmos EO/connectivity services; ~400 staff across the UK, Spain, Portugal, and Greece.
It follows Stoke Space's $1B raise for fully reusable rockets and TEC's $450M — three space megarounds in a single month.
Why it matters
Space VC has topped $16.5B globally in 2026 (per PitchBook), on track to nearly double 2025.
Europe is pouring capital into space sovereignty — cutting reliance on SpaceX for both launch and data.
The "SpaceX effect" is reaching public markets too: Seraphim just launched a pure-play New Space ETF, widening retail access.
For Investors
Open Cosmos (private) is a vertically integrated play on government demand for secure Earth observation and comms.
Watch the liquidity signal: Valor Equity returned ~$8.5B of SpaceX shares to its LPs, recycling gains into the next wave.
Risk: launch scarcity remains the sector's bottleneck, and a fast-inflating funding pace invites frothy valuations.
Read more: Via Satellite (September 14, 2026)
ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION
Figure Locks In $3.5B of Compute as the Humanoid Capital Race Splits
Figure has signed a multi-year deal with UK AI-cloud provider Nscale for an initial $3.5B of compute — scaling toward $6B — deploying up to 100,000 NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs from late 2027, with Nscale also taking an equity stake. The bet: humanoid progress is now gated by data and compute, not just hardware. The deal lands as humanoid capital diverges — Europe mints new unicorns while China cools an overheated IPO rush.
What happened
Nscale committed ≥$3.5B (intent to scale past $6B) of compute to Figure, up to 100,000 Vera Rubin GPUs in Barstow, Texas.
Nscale also took a strategic equity stake in Figure (last valued at $39B), deepening a vertically integrated AI-robotics stack.
Figure frames compute and data — for its Helix model — as its binding constraint to reach homes.
Why it matters
The deal reframes humanoids as an AI-infrastructure play, not just a mechatronics one.
Capital is bifurcating: Europe's Humanoid just became a unicorn on 34,000 pre-orders and a ~$2.4B pipeline, while Reuters reports China is slowing its humanoid IPO rush as hype outruns revenue.
Compute scale is becoming the moat separating funded leaders from the pack.
For Investors
Figure and Nscale (both private) offer paired exposure to the robot + compute flywheel.
The China cooldown is a useful valuation-discipline signal after Unitree's frothy debut.
Risk: a multi-billion compute commitment must be financed against still-nascent humanoid revenue.
Read more: Data Center Dynamics (September 3, 2026)
President and Co-founder of Insilico Medicine, Dr. Alex Aliper, on stage at the Future Investments Circle Dubai, September 7
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & LONGEVITY
Insilico's AI-Designed Drug Shows Signs of Reversing Biological Age
Insilico Medicine — whose co-founder Dr. Alex Aliper joined our Longevity Thesis panel in Dubai on 7 September — published a study that same day, with Harvard, Stanford, and the Broad Institute, showing its AI-designed drug rentosertib reduced patients' biological age across six independent proteomic aging clocks in a Phase IIa trial, alongside dose-dependent gains in lung function. It's a rare clinical signal that a drug conceived by generative AI may touch aging biology itself.
What happened
A study in Nature Biotechnology found rentosertib lowered predicted biological age on all six aging clocks tested, versus placebo.
The AI-designed TNIK inhibitor (for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) also showed dose-dependent lung-function improvement.
Insilico has since joined the HKEX Tech 100 and posted H1 revenue of $106M (+287%), now profitable.
Why it matters
It's early evidence that AI-first drug discovery can target aging, not just single diseases.
Rentosertib is already in Phase III for IPF — a real clinical asset, not a preprint.
Insilico's ~$11B in cumulative pharma deals shows the platform model is generating durable revenue.
For investors
Insilico is HKEX-listed (3696) — read this as a longevity/AI-bio thesis signal, not a private entry.
The result validates the broader AI-drug-discovery and longevity category our Dubai panel explored.
Risk: biological-age endpoints remain unvalidated for regulators, and aging-reversal claims warrant caution.
Read more: PR Newswire (September 7, 2026)
INFRASTRUCTURE
Musk's Boring Company Closes a Round at a $20B Valuation
The Boring Company has closed a new financing at roughly a $20B valuation, per the Wall Street Journal — nearly 4x its $5.7B 2022 mark — after seeking about $4B earlier this year (the amount raised wasn't disclosed). The tunneling firm attached an unusual condition: some investors must help recruit staff or open doors with government officials in cities where it hopes to build, or risk having shares bought back.
What happened
The Boring Company closed a round at ~$20B, up from $5.7B in 2022; the amount raised is undisclosed.
Some investors were required to help recruit or make government introductions to participate.
The capital backs expansion beyond the Las Vegas Loop to Nashville and Dubai tunnel projects.
Why it matters
The "access-as-equity" term underscores that permitting and government relationships — not boring tech — are the real bottleneck.
A 4x markup tests whether the Vegas Loop is a repeatable blueprint or a one-off.
Dubai marks the company's first project outside the US, an international proof point.
For investors
Boring (private; Sequoia, Founders Fund, Vy Capital historically) is a rare frontier-infrastructure bet, adjacent to our usual verticals.
The Musk halo commands a premium — useful to watch as a private-market risk-appetite gauge.
Risk: valuation runs well ahead of operating footprint, and execution depends on city-by-city permitting.
Read more: Tech Funding News (September 4, 2026)
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
EYWA by R.Evolution × Longevity Investors
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Architecture as a carrier of health — buildings designed from the ground up around the biology of the people inside them
Technology as an amplifier of ancient wisdom — biometric data and natural systems integrated at the design level
Wellbeing as a measurable asset — longevity science embedded in every structural and environmental decision
Community as a protective layer — a curated global ecosystem of health-conscious individuals
IP as scalable value — a multi-platform ecosystem for designing human life, built to grow with the science
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Disclaimer
Prepared by Future Investments News for general information only; not investment, legal, or tax advice. No offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument. Past trends and transactions are not reliable indicators of future results. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified advisers before making decisions.
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Future Investments News team.
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