🔦 Spotlight
Happy Friday LA,
The space economy does not just need more rockets. It needs more spacecraft that can be built quickly, reliably and at scale.
Los Angeles-based Apex announced more than $200M in new growth funding, nearly doubling its valuation to $2.3B just months after crossing the $1B mark. The round was led by Glade Brook Capital Partners and co-led by Washington Harbour Partners, with support from new and existing investors.
Apex builds productized, configurable satellite bus platforms for commercial and government customers. In simpler terms, it manufactures the core spacecraft infrastructure that carries payloads for missions ranging from remote sensing and communications to in-space power generation and national security architectures.
The company is using the funding to expand its high-rate satellite manufacturing campus, vertically integrate more key subsystems and manufacture platforms ahead of customer demand. That last part is important: Apex is betting that satellite production needs to look less like one-off aerospace engineering and more like scalable, repeatable manufacturing.
The timing makes sense. Launch has gotten faster and more available, but spacecraft production remains one of the industry’s biggest constraints. If proliferated constellations are going to become central to commercial and national security missions, the market needs suppliers that can build reliable satellites at industrial scale.
Image Source: Apex
Apex says its Factory One facility in Los Angeles can produce more than 200 satellites per year at peak production. The company is also expanding the campus with an additional 30,000 square feet of space and has grown to more than 350 employees, more than doubling its team over the past year.
The company is also moving deeper into defense. Apex recently announced a collaboration with Northrop Grumman tied to scalable space-based interceptor capabilities for the U.S. Space Force, and its Nova 1 platform is expected to host Project Shadow, a commercially led on-orbit demonstration for space-based interceptor technology.
That is the business Apex is trying to build: not custom spacecraft one mission at a time, but a repeatable satellite manufacturing operation that can keep pace with demand from commercial and government customers. If it works, Apex becomes less of a traditional aerospace contractor and more of a spacecraft production line for the proliferated constellation era.
Now onto this week’s LA venture deals, fund announcements and acquisitions.
🤝 Venture Deals
LA Companies
- Alfred, a Hawthorne-based stealth startup building software for robots, cars and other physical AI systems, is backed by investors including Chapter One, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel and Sam Altman’s Hydrazine Capital. Co-founded by former Tesla designer Ankit Ukil and former Meta engineer Dömötör Gulyas, the company is reportedly seeking funding at a $40M valuation as it develops tools to help robotics and automotive teams shorten R&D cycles and accelerate manufacturing. - learn more
- California Naturals closed a Series B funding round led by Align Ventures to support continued growth across major retailers including Target, Ulta Beauty and CVS. The clean personal care brand also named Hayden Hiatt as CEO as it expands its hair, body and everyday essentials business. - learn more
- Redondo Beach-based Impulse Space raised a $500M Series D co-led by 137 Ventures and BANNER VC, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $1B. Founded by SpaceX alum Tom Mueller, Impulse is building in-space mobility infrastructure, including spacecraft and propulsion systems that help satellites and payloads move after launch. The new funding will support hiring and manufacturing growth as the company scales to meet demand across commercial, civil and government space missions. - learn more
- Just Women’s Sports closed a new seven-figure investment round led by Bolt Ventures, with returning investors including Starry Eyed Tomorrow, Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Blue Pool Capital and OVO Fund. The women’s sports media company, founded by Haley Rosen, plans to use the capital to expand news and content operations, grow its team and invest in athlete-led programming. - learn more
- GammaTime, a microdrama streaming app, received a minority investment from Versant Media Group as part of its Series A round. The company produces short-form, mobile-first scripted series and will work with Versant to develop original projects using select entertainment IP and creative resources from the media company. Financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
- Pinegrove Venture Partners participated in Ramp’s $750M Series F, which valued the fintech company at $44B. Ramp’s financial operations platform has expanded beyond corporate cards and expense management into payments, procurement, vendor management, accounting automation and AI-powered spend management. The company said its total purchase volume grew roughly 170% year-over-year in March 2026. - learn more
- Alpha Edison participated in Oxford Quantum Circuits’ $350M Series C, which was led by Bullhound Capital and included backing from the British Business Bank, COFIDES, Fulcrum Asset Management, Pentland Ventures, Oxford Science Enterprises, Chevron Technology Ventures and others. The U.K.-based company builds and operates superconducting quantum computers for enterprise, government and research customers, with the funding going toward international expansion and continued development of its quantum computing roadmap. The round is described as Europe’s largest private funding round for a quantum computing company. - learn more
- Patron participated in Board’s $20M Series A, which was led by Union Square Ventures, with additional backing from Raine Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Expa, 25madison, Red & Blue Ventures, Day One Ventures and others. New York-based Board is building a face-to-face gaming console and AI-powered creator platform that lets people play and make tabletop-style games together, with the funding going toward its upcoming Board Studio creation tools and broader expansion beyond hardware. - learn more
- Pinegrove Venture Partners participated in Layup Parts’ $42M Series A, which was led by Marlinspike, with backing from Cerberus Ventures and existing investors Founders Fund, Lux Capital and Haystack. Huntington Beach-based Layup Parts is building a software-driven manufacturing platform for custom composite parts, aiming to make carbon-fiber and fiberglass components faster, easier and cheaper to source. The company plans to use the funding to grow its team, expand capacity and move into a larger facility as demand grows across aerospace, defense and other advanced manufacturing markets. - learn more
- Overture Ventures participated in Atana Elements’ $27.5M seed round, which was led by Lowercarbon Capital with backing from Borusan Ventures, Earthshot Ventures, Redwoods Climate Capital, Sunna Ventures, Verve Ventures, Volta Energy Technologies, WovenEarth and others. Atana uses AI, machine learning and oil-and-gas-style subsurface expertise to identify and develop flowing critical mineral systems, including lithium brines, hydrogen, helium and emerging copper and uranium extraction opportunities. The company says it has already secured positions estimated to contain more than 100M tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent across the EU and Americas. - learn more
- Bedrock Capital participated in Mach Industries’ $300M Series C, which was led by Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital and valued the Huntington Beach defense tech company at $1.8B. Mach builds advanced unmanned defense systems, including platforms for strike, surveillance and counter-drone use, and plans to use the funding to expand manufacturing, advance second-generation systems and grow its Forge manufacturing network. The round comes shortly after Mach acquired Exquadrum, now Mach Energetics, to strengthen its propulsion and vertically integrated production capabilities. - learn more
- Strong Ventures participated in Unastella’s $24M Series B, which was led by Altos Ventures and also included Korea Development Bank, Hana Ventures and others. The Seoul-based rocket company is developing launch vehicles and engines for small satellite launch services, with a longer-term goal of crewed suborbital spaceflight. Unastella has now raised $44M total and plans to use its upcoming UNA EXPRESS-II launch to further validate its technology and commercial roadmap. - learn more
- Connect Ventures co-led Sekai’s $20M Series A alongside Khosla Ventures, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Mayfield, A, MVP Ventures, 359 Capital, Parable VC* and 645 Ventures. Sekai is building an AI-powered platform that lets users create, remix and share mini apps through text prompts, with the new funding going toward expanding its engineering and product teams. The company has raised $26M across its seed and Series A rounds. - learn more
- Shamrock Capital Advisors participated in a strategic growth investment in CardsHQ, alongside EnOne Ventures, bringing CardsHQ and Sports Card Investor together under one company. The combined platform will operate as CardsHQ and span sports cards, trading card games, retail, e-commerce, live breaking, content, data and technology, including Sports Card Investor’s media network and the Market Movers pricing and collection tracking platform. The funding will support new retail locations, expanded live events, broader inventory and further development of collector-facing tools. - learn more
LA Exits
- Catalina Capital Group, a fee-only RIA based in Torrance, was acquired by CW Advisors, giving the Boston-based wealth management firm its first Southern California office. Catalina brings about $655M in assets under management, and the deal expands CW Advisors’ national footprint to 24 offices and more than $16B in client assets. Financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
- adMixt, a performance marketing agency known for its proprietary technology and expertise across Meta, Google, TikTok and other digital platforms, was acquired by Interluxe Group. The deal expands Interluxe’s luxury marketing platform by adding paid search, paid social, performance creative, API integrations and advanced analytics capabilities for premium lifestyle and luxury brands. Financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
Image Source: Observable Space
