There are a lot of things to consider when building a new startup - where to get funding, how to validate your idea, and what features should the product have.
One of the challenges, however, is finding a market that is willing to pay for your solution without even knowing what it is yet.
While some people say this makes your idea too vague and hard to monetize, there’s actually good news.
There’s more money in this space than ever before by angels investing in early-stage companies.
If you're building a Aerospace startup, you must check these 55 fast-growing companies.
55 Aerospace Startups 1) Boom Supersonic Boom Supersonic is a commercial aircraft manufacturer that specializes in supersonic aircraft that are designed for speed, safety, and environmental sustainability.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Englewood Started in: 2014 Founders: Blake Scholl, Joe Wilding, Joshua Krall Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $241,131,868 Number of funding rounds: 9 Number of investors: 27 You can find their website here
2) Relativity Space Relativity Space is an aerospace company that creates 3D printed rockets by designing, developing, and manufacturing them.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Long Beach Started in: 2015 Founders: Jordan Noone, Tim Ellis Number of employees: 251-500 Funding amount: $1,335,720,000 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 44 You can find their website here
3) Blue Origin Blue Origin is an aerospace business whose mission is to reduce the cost of spaceflight while also assisting in the exploration of the solar system.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Kent Started in: 2000 Founders: Jeff Bezos Number of employees: 251-500 Funding amount: $13,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 1 Number of investors: 1 You can find their website here
4) SpaceX SpaceX is a private aerospace and aviation firm that develops, builds, and launches sophisticated rockets and spacecraft.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Hawthorne Started in: 2002 Founders: Elon Musk Number of employees: 5001-10000 Funding amount: $7,460,112,010 Number of funding rounds: 43 Number of investors: 45 You can find their website here
5) DJI DJI creates cutting-edge drone and camera technologies for both business and recreational use.
Details of the startup:
Country: China City: Shenzhen Started in: 2006 Founders: Frank Wang Number of employees: 10001+ Funding amount: $105,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 3 You can find their website here
6) Joby Aviation Joby Aviation is a business that develops electric aircraft for the aerospace industry.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Santa Cruz Started in: 2009 Founders: JoeBen Bevirt Number of employees: 501-1000 Funding amount: $795,970,000 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 20 You can find their website here
7) LeoLabs LeoLabs is an aerospace business that specializes in low-Earth-orbit mapping and space situational awareness.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Menlo Park Started in: 2016 Founders: Daniel Ceperley, John Buonocore, Michael Nicolls Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $82,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 5 Number of investors: 12 You can find their website here
8) Lilium Lilium is a business that is working on building an electric airplane.
Details of the startup:
Country: Germany City: Weßling Started in: 2015 Founders: Daniel Wiegand, Matthias Meiner, Patrick Nathen, Sebastian Born Number of employees: 501-1000 Funding amount: $376,400,000 Number of funding rounds: 5 Number of investors: 6 You can find their website here
9) Planet Planet is an aerospace and data analytics firm that develops small satellites and transmits data about the changing world.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: San Francisco Started in: 2010 Founders: Chris Boshuizen, Robbie Schingler, Will Marshall Number of employees: 501-1000 Funding amount: $373,898,658 Number of funding rounds: 8 Number of investors: 29 You can find their website here
10) Astra Astra is a rocket launch company that specializes in satellite delivery and launch.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Alameda Started in: 2016 Founders: Adam London, Chris Kemp Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $100,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 8 You can find their website here
11) Hydrosat Hydrosat is a satellite data company that transforms satellite pictures into useful goods for agriculture and related industries.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Washington D.C. Started in: 2017 Founders: Jakob Van Zyl, Pieter Fossel, Royce Dalby, Yunjin Kim Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $10,623,002 Number of funding rounds: 5 Number of investors: 11 You can find their website here
12) Skyroot Aerospace Skyroot Aerospace is India's first space launch vehicle company, producing rockets for low-cost access to space.
Details of the startup:
Country: India City: Hyderabad Started in: 2018 Founders: Naga Bharath Daka, Pawan Kumar Chandana Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $14,938,971 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 9 You can find their website here
13) Axiom Space Axiom Space is a business developing the first multinational commercial space station.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Houston Started in: 2016 Founders: Kam Ghaffarian, Michael Suffredini Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $150,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 4 Number of investors: 19 You can find their website here
14) Firefly Aerospace Firefly Aerospace provides tiny payloads with cost-effective and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Cedar Park Started in: 2014 Founders: Eric Salwan, Maureen Gannon, Max Polyakov, Michael Blum, PJ King, Thomas Markusic Number of employees: 251-500 Funding amount: $196,557,023 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 10 You can find their website here
15) Agnikul Agnikul is a space technology company that designs, builds, tests, and launches orbital class rockets for micro and nano satellites.
Details of the startup:
Country: India City: Chennai Started in: 2017 Founders: Moin SPM, Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, Srinath Ravichandran Number of employees: 51-100 Funding amount: $14,543,144 Number of funding rounds: 4 Number of investors: 17 You can find their website here
16) Isar Aerospace Isar Aerospace is a space technology firm that specializes in satellite constellation launch systems.
Details of the startup:
Country: Germany City: Munich Started in: 2018 Founders: Daniel Metzler, Josef Fleischmann, Markus Brandl Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $176,718,945 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 11 You can find their website here
17) Volocopter Volocopter is an urban air transportation business that creates environmentally friendly air taxis.
Details of the startup:
Country: Germany City: Bruchsal Started in: 2011 Founders: Alexander Zosel, Stephan Wolf Number of employees: 251-500 Funding amount: € 369,200,000 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 20 You can find their website here
18) SkySpecs SkySpecs uses cutting-edge robotics to automate the operation and maintenance of utility-scale wind turbines.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Ann Arbor Started in: 2012 Founders: Danny Ellis, Jonathan Bendes, Ryan Morton, Samuel DeBruin, Tom Brady Number of employees: 51-100 Funding amount: $38,659,113 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 14 You can find their website here
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19) ICEYE By delivering fast and reliable satellite images, ICEYE enables people to make better decisions in the B2B and B2G markets.
Details of the startup:
Country: Finland City: Espoo Started in: 2014 Founders: Pekka Laurila, Rafal Modrzewski Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $152,059,475 Number of funding rounds: 8 Number of investors: 20 You can find their website here
20) Airspace Link Airspace Link is a Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) Platform for UAS/Drones that has been approved by the FAA.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Detroit Started in: 2018 Founders: Ana Healander, Daniel Bradshaw, Michael Healander Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $18,000,070 Number of funding rounds: 4 Number of investors: 10 You can find their website here
21) Phase Four Electric propulsion (EP) for tiny spacecraft.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: El Segundo Started in: 2015 Founders: J. P. Sheehan, Simon Halpern Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $29,565,499 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 10 You can find their website here
22) PrecisionHawk Precision Hawk creates and combines commercial drone technology that revolutionizes the collecting and analysis of aerial data.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Raleigh Started in: 2010 Founders: Christopher Dean, Ernest Earon Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $136,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 7 Number of investors: 16 You can find their website here
23) Anduril Industries Anduril Industries is a defense equipment manufacturer that creates technology for military and border surveillance organizations.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Irvine Started in: 2017 Founders: Brian Schimpf, Joseph Chen, Matt Grimm, Palmer Luckey, Trae Stephens Number of employees: 251-500 Funding amount: $691,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 5 Number of investors: 17 You can find their website here
24) ABL Space Systems ABL Space Systems manufactures tiny satellite launch rockets.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: El Segundo Started in: 2017 Founders: Harry O'Hanley Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $219,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 8 You can find their website here
25) Sarcos Robotics Sarcos is a robotics firm that creates wearable and teleoperated industrial robotics to improve user safety and efficiency.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Salt Lake City Started in: 1983 Founders: Ben Wolff, Stephen Jacobsen Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $96,125,000 Number of funding rounds: 4 Number of investors: 12 You can find their website here
26) Infinite Composites Advanced gas storage systems for aircraft, industrial gas, and transportation applications are designed, developed, and manufactured by ICT.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Tulsa Started in: 2010 Founders: Matt Villarreal, Michael Tate Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $5,435,205 Number of funding rounds: 14 Number of investors: 14 You can find their website here
27) AirMap AirMap is a platform for unmanned aircraft that provides airspace services.
Details of the startup:
Country: United States City: Santa Monica Started in: 2014 Founders: Ben Marcus, Gregory McNeal Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $78,657,664 Number of funding rounds: 7 Number of investors: 22 You can find their website here
28) HNA Group HNA Group is a conglomerate of companies with interests in travel, finance, and other business ventures.
Details of the startup:
Country: China City: Haikou Started in: 1993 Founders: Chen Feng, Tan Xiangdong, WenLi Chen, Xianhua Li Number of employees: 10001+ Funding amount: $3,830,545,855 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 7 You can find their website here
29) Axelspace Axelspace is a company that develops commercial microsatellites and provides satellite imagery.
Details of the startup:
Country: Japan City: Tokyo Started in: 2008 Founders: Naoki Miyashita, Takashi Eishima, Yuya Nakamura Number of employees: 51-100 Funding amount: ¥7,640,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 23 You can find their website here
30) Astroscale Astroscale was formed by an IT entrepreneur who recommended approaching the business of orbital debris mitigation with a start-up ethos.
Details of the startup:
Country: Japan City: Sumida Started in: 2013 Founders: Miki Ito, Mitsunobu Okada, Nobu Okada Number of employees: 51-100 Funding amount: $204,200,000 Number of funding rounds: 8 Number of investors: 28 You can find their website here
31) D-Orbit D-Orbit is the first company to provide solutions for moving, precisely deploying, and deleting satellites in space.
Details of the startup:
Country: Italy City: Milan Started in: 2011 Founders: Giuseppe Tussiwand, Luca Rossettini, Renato Panesi, Thomas Panozzo Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: € 21,280,000 Number of funding rounds: 9 Number of investors: 13 You can find their website here
32) TTTech TTTech is a technology pioneer in networked safety controls situated in Vienna, Austria.
Details of the startup:
Country: Austria City: Vienna Started in: 1998 Founders: Georg Kopetz, Stefan Poledna Number of employees: 1001-5000 Funding amount: € 169,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 5 Number of investors: 8 You can find their website here
33) Wingcopter Wingcopter is an unmanned eVTOL fixed-wing aircraft company dedicated to improving people's lives all around the world.
Details of the startup:
Country: Germany City: Darmstadt Started in: 2017 Founders: Ansgar Kadura, Jonathan Hesselbarth, Tom Plümmer Number of employees: 51-100 Funding amount: $22,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 5 You can find their website here
34) Pangea Aerospace Pangea Aerospace was founded by bringing together multinational engineers with a shared goal.
Details of the startup:
Country: Spain City: Barcelona Started in: 2018 Founders: Adria Argemi, Federico Rossi, Nicola Palumbo, Rasmus Bergstrom, Xavier Llairo Number of employees: 1-10 Funding amount: € 4,071,429 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 7 You can find their website here
35) Alitalia Alitalia is Italy's national airline and flag carrier.
Details of the startup:
Country: Italy City: Rome Started in: 1946 Number of employees: 10001+ Funding amount: $412,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 1 Number of investors: 1 You can find their website here
36) Preligens We create cutting-edge technologies to enable analysts to make informed decisions for a safer society.
Details of the startup:
Country: France City: Paris Started in: 2016 Founders: Arnaud Guerin, Renaud Allioux Number of employees: 51-100 Funding amount: € 24,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 5 You can find their website here
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37) Vistara Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited have partnered to form Vistara (SIA)
Details of the startup:
Country: India City: Haryana Started in: 2013 Number of employees: 1001-5000 Funding amount: ₹25,000,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 2 Number of investors: 2 You can find their website here
38) Heart Aerospace Heart Aerospace is a Swedish company that designs and manufactures electric regional planes.
Details of the startup:
Country: Sweden City: Göteborg Started in: 2018 Founders: Anders Forslund Number of employees: 1-10 Funding amount: $2,255,928 Number of funding rounds: 2 Number of investors: 6 You can find their website here
39) Kacific Kacific is a next-generation broadband satellite operator dedicated to bringing high-speed broadband to Asia Pacific at an affordable price.
Details of the startup:
Country: Singapore City: Singapore Started in: 2013 Founders: Christian Patouraux, Cyril Annarella Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $307,800,000 Number of funding rounds: 4 Number of investors: 2 You can find their website here
40) Unseenlabs Unseenlabs creates and develops a payload for spectrum surveillance.
Details of the startup:
Country: France City: Rennes Started in: 2015 Founders: Clement Galic, Jonathan Galic Number of employees: 1-10 Funding amount: € 27,500,000 Number of funding rounds: 2 Number of investors: 7 You can find their website here
41) Terra Drone Terra Drone is a company that makes drones and software.
Details of the startup:
Country: Japan City: Tokyo Started in: 2016 Founders: Toru Tokushige Number of employees: 251-500 Funding amount: ¥1,510,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 1 Number of investors: 3 You can find their website here
42) Kambr Software, consulting, and content are all used to improve airline revenue performance.
Details of the startup:
Country: The Netherlands City: Amsterdam Started in: 2019 Founders: Chris Anthony, Jason Kelly, Martin Kaduc, Michael Peters Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $7,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 2 Number of investors: 11 You can find their website here
43) ADQ ADQ is a holding corporation that owns a number of large businesses.
Details of the startup:
Country: United Arab Emirates City: Abu Dhabi Started in: 2018 You can find their website here
44) Unifly Unifly is a drone integration technology that allows for the safe integration of drones into the airspace.
Details of the startup:
Country: Belgium City: Antwerp Started in: 2015 Founders: Andres Van Swalm, Hans Schrauwen, Jürgen Verstaen, Koen Meuleman Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: € 23,200,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 5 You can find their website here
45) AeroMobil AeroMobil is a cutting-edge technical firm working on a flying car that combines a sports car and a light plane into a single vehicle.
Details of the startup:
Country: Slovakia (Slovak Republic) City: Bratislava Started in: 2010 Founders: Juraj Vaculik, Stefan Klein Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $31,700,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 5 You can find their website here
46) SMBC Aviation Capital SMBC Aviation Capital is a global aircraft leasing company that works with airlines to lease commercial jet aircraft.
Details of the startup:
Country: Ireland City: Dublin Started in: 1997 Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $600,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 1 You can find their website here
47) Magnax Next-generation electric vehicles will use axial flux electric motors with high power density.
Details of the startup:
Country: Belgium City: Kortrijk Started in: 2015 Founders: Daan Moreels, Kester Goh, Peter Leijnen Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $19,994,079 Number of funding rounds: 2 Number of investors: 3 You can find their website here
48) Dhruva Space Dhruva Space is a private firm that specializes in space exploration.
Details of the startup:
Country: India City: Bengaluru Started in: 2012 Founders: Sanjay Nekkanti Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: ₹50,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 1 Number of investors: 3 You can find their website here
49) Gilmour Space Technologies Gilmour Space Technologies is a space rocket development business that focuses on developing low-cost hybrid launch vehicles.
Details of the startup:
Country: Australia City: Pimpama Started in: 2012 Founders: Adam Gilmour Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: A$27,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 3 You can find their website here
50) ALE ALE is an extraterrestrial entertainment corporation that creates artificial meteor showers and shooting stars on demand.
Details of the startup:
Country: Japan City: Tokyo Started in: 2011 Founders: Lena Okajima Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $2,226,094,682 Number of funding rounds: 5 Number of investors: 8 You can find their website here
51) Aernnova Aerospace Aerostructures and components such as wings, empennages, and fuselage sections are designed and manufactured.
Details of the startup:
Country: Spain City: Álava Started in: 1993 Number of employees: 1001-5000 Funding amount: € 900,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 3 You can find their website here
52) Dronehub Inspection and delivery using automated industrial drones, all-terrain hubs, and AI-powered software.
Details of the startup:
Country: Poland City: Warsaw Started in: 2015 Founders: Vadym Melnyk, Vadym Melnyk Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: PLN2,200,000 Number of funding rounds: 1 You can find their website here
53) Commsat Commsat is a Chinese company that operates a low-track small satellite constellation.
Details of the startup:
Country: China City: Beijing Started in: 2015 Founders: Tao Xie, Yuanyuan Peng Number of employees: 101-250 Funding amount: $68,420,559 Number of funding rounds: 6 Number of investors: 10 You can find their website here
54) Spacety Spacety is a commercial microsatellite company that provides spacecraft scientific and technology validation tests.
Details of the startup:
Country: China City: Changsha Started in: 2016 Founders: Justin Yang, Weijia Ren Number of employees: 11-50 Funding amount: $36,679,947 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 9 You can find their website here
55) Guoxing Aerospace Guoxing Aerospace is a commercial satellite R&D company that also provides data services.
Details of the startup:
Country: China City: Chengdu Started in: 2018 Number of employees: 51-100 Funding amount: CN¥260,000,000 Number of funding rounds: 3 Number of investors: 9 You can find their website here
