Firefly Aerospace Inc., the American rocket and space technology developer, owned by Ukrainian businessman Maksym Poliakov, has completed the first round (A) of venture funding with more than $ 175 million raised (with the planned $ 75 million), the total cost of the company exceeded $ 1 billion.

According to Firefly CEO Tom Markusic, the interest of investors during Round A significantly exceeded the initially planned $ 75 million and in order to meet the demand, the main investor of Firefly - Noosphere Ventures - sold part of shares worth more than $ 100 million to a number of participants in this round and other shareholders, while remaining the majority shareholder.

According to the company, 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 $ 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.

Tom 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 $ 350 million to scale production and create a mid-range rocket - Firefly Beta.