Norfolk based Gravitilab Aerospace Services closes its £500k Bridge round with significant over-funding.

Gravitilab has raised more than £900k during the last quarter, including one investment from an ACG member, and is now embarking on a new £5mil Series A round.

Gravitilab, based at the Scottow Enterprise Park just north of Norwich, is a SpaceTech business that provides Research, Testing and Qualification services, specialising in microgravity and Space environments. Its customers come from a wide variety of sectors including Commercial, Academic and Government. In the Anglia region there is particular interest from AgriTech, BioTech, Engineering, and ClimateTech industries.

“It’s not everyday that we see a pitch which involves launching rockets! Gravitilab have seen excellent growth since inception in 2019 and is a fantastic example of the exciting innovation which we’re proud to see coming out of our region.” Hannah Smith, Managing Director, Anglia Capital Group.

In an exciting development, Gravitilab recently achieved a “world first” with the launch of its commercial microgravity service using its patented LOUIS UAV / drone technology. This was the first time that a UAV drop-pod has been used to generate a microgravity environment and paves the way for widespread commercial use across industries as diverse as cosmetics and satellites.

Gravitilab’s technology solutions are set to disrupt the existing institutional market for research and testing (which remains dominated by legacy technology), but with safer and more affordable services available at much shorter notice it is also opening up new avenues within the £65bn UK R&D industry.

“We are delighted to have overfunded to such an extent last year and been able to successfully launch our microgravity service last month. We now look forward to raising £5mil from venture funds in order to complete the development of our hybrid suborbital rocket and roll out our full suite of commercial services.” James Kilpatrick, Founder, Gravitilab Aerospace Services.

In addition to making microgravity and Space environments so much more accessible Gravitilab is also on a mission to improve Sustainability in Space. Its hybrid rockets are initially set to reduce launch emissions by 75%, and it hopes to be carbon neutral before long as it is developing a new rocket fuel based on beeswax in conjunction with a leading Norfolk apiary. What is more the advent of more rigorous testing regimes, which the company can facilitate, will substantially help to reduce the build up of debris in Space.