K2 Space has raised $500M in a Series D round at a $6.8B valuation to scale production of its large, high-power satellites.
Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ led the round, with CapitalG, Lightspeed, Altimeter, Spark Capital, Sands Capital, ARK Invest and T. Rowe Price also participating.
Since its founding in 2022, the California startup has raised more than $1B and secured an equivalent amount in contracts. Its contrarian bet: while most satellite companies miniaturize, K2 builds bigger.
The strategy is showing results. In March, K2’s first mega-class satellite, Gravitas, reached orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The two-ton, 20-kilowatt spacecraft carried a dozen payload modules for multiple customers, including the Department of Defense.
K2 is building spacecraft for SES’s meoSphere network, working with Anduril on satellites for the Golden Dome missile defense system, and supplying the US Space Force’s Protected Tactical Satcom program.
“When my brother Neel and I started K2 four years ago, we took a contrarian bet that building bigger would be the future for exploring and developing space,” CEO Karan Kunjur said. The new capital will help the company prepare to build up to 100 large satellites per year.
