The latest round of financing by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was led by Sequoia Capital, with a valuation of approximately US$74 billion.
The person familiar with the matter stated that other investors involved in this round of $850 million financings include Valor Equity Partners, Coatue Management, D1 Capital Partners, and Fidelity Investments.
The person familiar with the matter said that Sequoia has issued the largest check in this round of financing, with a stock value of about $420. Sequoia was also one of SpaceX’s main investors last summer when SpaceX was valued at approximately US$46 billion.
The venture capital firm Sequoia made its first round of investment in early 2020 when SpaceX was valued at nearly $36 billion. Sequoia has invested more than $600 million in SpaceX.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to reporters’ requests for comment, and Menlo Park, California-based Sequoia Capital also declined to comment.
It is rare for Sequoia Capital to make a new round of investment at such a high valuation. At least one of Sequoia’s partners has a long-term relationship with SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.
When Musk was CEO of PayPal Holdings Inc. 20 years ago, Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha was PayPal’s chief financial officer. A person familiar with the matter said that Sequoia is particularly interested in SpaceX’s space-based high-speed Internet service Starlink.
Currently, SpaceX has launched Starlink services to more than 10,000 people in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and Sequoia Capital is optimistic about its growth potential.
SpaceX is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, and its ultimate goal is to establish a human colony on Mars. According to media reports, SpaceX’s ultimate goal is capital-intensive. Prior to the latest round of investment, the company had raised nearly $6 billion.
Lately, SpaceX’s private valuation has soared, and Tesla’s stock value has also continued to rise. The combination of the two makes Elon Musk one of the richest people in the world.
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