U.S. investors dominate Europe’s private-led space scale-up rounds

TAMPA, Fla. — While European space startups are attracting more venture capital, their private-led growth rounds remain anchored by U.S. investors rather than regional investment firms.

The amount of venture capital invested in European space ventures in 2025 jumped 13% year-over-year to 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion), according to the European Space Policy Institute’s latest Space Venture report.

Five of the nine scale-up rounds the think tank tracked in 2025 were led by European public entities, such as the European Union’s investment arm or the British government. 

However, the four remaining deals anchored by private investors were all led by U.S. firms, underlining a gap in Europe’s ability to finance late-stage space companies without relying on public institutions or foreign capital.

“There was not a single European private investor able to lead the funding round for a European scale-up,” João Serra, ESPI’s lead of industry and finance, said during an April 30 media briefing.

Even with heavy public support, ESPI found that only 69% of the roughly two billion euros in venture funding raised by European space firms over 2024 and 2025 came from rounds led by European investors. In the United States, that figure was above 90%.

“This gap is not even just a space problem — it’s been identified as a deep tech problem in Europe,” Serra said, potentially pushing “companies to seek foreign investment out of necessity and not so much out of choice.”

The report noted how lead investors can shape more than funding totals, including board representation and voting rights, which are sensitive issues as Europe seeks greater sovereignty in an increasingly strategic space domain.

“Foreign investment has numerous benefits,” Serra added, though “nowadays there are more and more concerns in this geoeconomic world … governments are being more cautious about when there are investments tied with defense or strategic capabilities.”

He said the challenge is to manage the risk without closing the door to useful capital.

Regional differences

ESPI found that 84% of investor participation in European space venture rounds over the past two years came from within Europe, with foreign-capital exposure varying significantly across the continent.

In France, 89% of investor participation came from Europe, including 75% from within the country, with virtually no U.S. investor activity.

In contrast, 45% of investor participation in Germany was national. About 37% came from elsewhere in Europe and 15% from the United States.

Foreign acquisition exposure

International acquirers pose an even greater foreign-control concern for Europe’s space sector than venture capital.

Of the 46 acquisitions of European space firms ESPI tracked from 2014 to 2025, around a third involved foreign acquirers, predominantly from the United States.

German ventures again appear particularly exposed, with foreign acquirers from countries including the United States, Singapore and Saudi Arabia snapping up half of those sold during the period.

Not every foreign acquisition threatens Europe’s economic security, the report stressed, but losing control of companies developing critical and emerging technologies can undermine strategic autonomy.

The findings come as lawmakers debate the EU Space Act, a proposed framework for harmonizing rules across the bloc that has raised industry concerns over added compliance costs, certification complexity and treatment of operators outside Europe.

Including funding sources beyond venture capital, such as debt and acquisitions, ESPI said European space ventures attracted 1.4 billion euros overall in 2025, an 8% year-on-year decrease.

However, global investment in space ventures soared 60% to a record 11.7 billion euros, dominated by the nearly eight billion euros captured by U.S. firms.

Venture capital represented 8.3 billion euros of the global total, while IPOs and acquisitions accounted for 1.2 billion euros and 1.4 billion euros, respectively.