Stoke Space has raised a billion dollars for a rocket that has never flown. The Washington company says the Series E takes its total funding to $2.3bn. It has not yet reached orbit once.
Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital co-led the round, according to Stoke’s announcement. General Innovation, Glade Brook Capital, US Innovation Technology, Washington Harbour Partners, Woven Capital and Y Combinator also took part. Stoke did not disclose a valuation.
Read the announcement carefully and it says something slightly narrower than the headline. Stoke has “completed an initial closing of its billion-dollar Series E”. The round is sized at a billion, then, but not necessarily all in the bank. The company has not said how much of it has closed.
The investor list is worth a second look too. Y Combinator is in it, which is unusual company for a rocket manufacturer at Series E. It also points at how early some of this money went in. Point72 Ventures says it has backed Stoke through several stages already.
What the money is actually for
