Italian space tech start-up Astradyne has announced that it has closed a €2 million seed investment round to accelerate the development of Solar-Z, its innovative ultra-light solar panel designed for space applications. The round was led by Primo Capital through the Primo Space fund, the VC vehicle entirely dedicated to the space economy. The round also saw the participation of Galaxia, the National Technology Transfer Hub for Aerospace, created on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital’s Technology Transfer Fund together with Obloo Ventures, already an investor in the pre-seed round, the Eureka! Fund I – Technology Transfer fund and the Puglia co-investment fund. , both managed by Eureka! Venture.
Founded in 2021, Astradyne develops next-generation photovoltaic solutions designed for the new space economy, with the aim of making satellite-based power generation systems lighter, more compact and more efficient, significantly reducing launch costs and increasing performance in orbit.
“Our goal is to provide lighter, cheaper and faster-to-obtain power generation systems in space, solving the main bottlenecks of photovoltaic technologies currently used in orbit,” said Davide Vittori, CEO of Astradyne (pictured with the team), in a statement. “Thanks to this round, we can accelerate towards in-orbit qualification and consolidate our technology roadmap. At the same time, we are exploring selective paths for technology transfer to the ground, in sectors where the lightness and transportability of photovoltaic solutions are fundamental.”
“We decided to lead this investment because we believe Astradyne is an extremely promising company, driven by a team with excellent engineering skills and a clear vision of the product and market,” says Matteo Cascinari, general partner of Primo Space Fund. “Astradyne, our seventeenth investment, enriches a portfolio of companies diversified across almost all fields of the space economy in Italy and Europe.”
“We are proud to renew our confidence in Astradyne, with the aim of helping to make satellite performance increasingly efficient, sustainable and accessible,” said Claudia Pingue, head of CDP Venture Capital’s Tech Transfer Fund. “With Galaxia, we aim to enhance upstream space solutions, confident that the technological excellence and vision of the Astradyne team are key elements in achieving this goal.”
“The investment in Astradyne fits perfectly into the strategy of the Eureka! Fund I – Technology Transfer fund, which aims to extract value from applications enabled by innovative materials,” emphasises Massimo Gentili, partner at Eureka! Fund – In the field of components for space applications, the ability to reduce weight and space without sacrificing component performance is crucial. Astradyne’s decision to use new types of flexible and movable materials according to the specific requirements of the satellite offers an undoubted competitive advantage over the solutions currently available on the market.
With this investment, Astradyne aims to achieve Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9 for Solar-Z, complete in-orbit testing aboard Low Earth Orbit satellites (i.e., satellites orbiting the Earth at a relatively low altitude, generally between 200 and 2,000 kilometres) and enter into agreements with satellite integrators and manufacturers. At the same time, the company is developing a complementary product line, Solar-Y, for advanced terrestrial applications, from construction to agriculture to mobile energy systems, adapting solutions designed for the space environment to new needs on Earth, with the aim of rethinking the way energy is produced in dynamic contexts.
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