Firefly Aerospace Inc., the rocket and space technology developer, owned by the Ukrainian businessman Maksym Polyakov, has completed the first round of venture funding with more than USD 175 million raised (compared to the planned USD 75 million).

Further to this funding operation, the total value of the company based in California exceeded USD 1 billion.

According to Thomas Markusic, CEO of Firefly, the interest of investors during the Round A significantly exceeded the initially planned USD 75 million and in order to meet the demand, the main investor of Firefly – Noosphere Ventures – sold part of shares worth more than USD 100 million to a number of participants in this round and other shareholders, while remaining the majority shareholder. Firefly noted that this decision did not affect the strategic management and control of the Company.

Following the launch of the Alpha carrier rocket, Firefly plans to raise an additional USD 300 million in investment by the end of 2021 to support the company’s growth plans through 2025, according to a Facebook post by Firefly Aerospace.

Thomas Markusic stressed that the implementation of the next investment round, scheduled for 2021, will allow Firefly to fully fulfill its business plan for the development of new spaceships and launch vehicles.

As reported, earlier Firefly Aerospace announced plans to raise USD 350 million to scale production and create a mid-range rocket – Firefly Beta.