Aetherflux team. Photo: Aetherflux

Aetherflux, the space solar power startup from the co-founder of Robinhood Baiju Bhatt, raised $50 million in a Series A funding round, the company announced Wednesday. 

Index Ventures and Interlagos led the round, which also included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and NEA.

Dan Gallagher, who is the chief legal, compliance, and corporate affairs officer of Robinhood and the former commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission invested in the round, along with Bhatt’s Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev. Other individuals included actor Jared Leto, Laurent and François-Paul Journe, and others. 

Aetherflux said this brings total capital raised to $60 million. Bhatt previously invested $10 million into the venture. 

The company, which exited stealth mode in October last year, is working to build a power grid in space using satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) that can beam power down to remote locations. Bhatt spoke with Via Satellite on the On Orbit podcast in December about leaving Robinhood and founding a space company, and the applications for space solar power. 

Aetherflux said Wednesday it has demonstrated power transmission in its lab and will receive funding from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF) in fiscal year 2025 to develop a proof of concept demonstrating power transmission from LEO. The company plans to launch its Mission 1 power beaming demonstration to LEO in 2026.

Aetherflux highlighted the defense application of this capability and the potential to provide Army and Navy forces with distributed power with fewer logistics burdens. 

“Space solar power can deliver power directly to our forces, reducing reliance on fuel convoys and fixed infrastructure, even in remote or contested regions like the Indo-Pacific. By delivering energy, day or night, we can protect warfighters, safeguard military assets, and support long-term DoD energy modernization, all while saving taxpayer money,” the company said in a release.