Two events this week illustrate just how global the space technology sector is. Boeing's venture arm, HorizonX, participated in a $15M round in Myriota and the Japanese government announced a 100 billion yen ($940M) fund for space startups.
The $15 million round in Myriota was led by Australian venture capital firms Blue Sky and Main Sequence, with Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Singapore-based Singtel Innov8 and Right Click Capital joining the fundraising. This is HorizonX's first investment outside the US. Myriota is a product of the $12 million Australian Space Research Program.
The Japanese space fund developed quickly after iSpace raised a $90M Series A at the end of last year. iSpace is teaming with a former Google Lunar Xprize competitor TeamIndus on lunar exploration technologies.
The ties between funding sources, Governments with national economic development interests, and regional market needs mean that space technologies are not limited by national boundaries. Global deal visibility is critical. Traditional technology investors cannot rely on their existing domestic networks to discover the next deal.