Cailabs Secures €57 Million to Accelerate Growth and Industrial Scale-up
Cailabs, a deep-tech leader in advanced photonics, today announced it has raised €57 million to accelerate its industrial expansion and global growth. The round of structured financing, led by the European Investment Bank (EIB), combines a €37 million financing from the EIB and a €20 million investment from Definvest and Fonds Innovation Defense (Armed Forces ministry and Bpifrance), NewSpace Capital, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, Starquest Capital, and CAIVE (Crédit Agricole Ille-et-Vilaine Expansion).
Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President at the European Investment Bank, said: “Space technologies are increasingly important for civilian use as well as for security and defense applications. As the bank of the European Union, the EIB supports Cailabs’ investments in manufacturing capabilities and in research & development of its laser communication technologies. The project is fully aligned with the EIB strategic priorities of security and defense, and technological innovation under its TechEU programme.”
“This funding round reflects our solid fundamentals and the confidence investors have in our strategic vision. It enables us to scale up industrial capabilities and prepare for the next stage of growth” said Jean-François Morizur, Co-founder and CEO of Cailabs.
Accelerating Strategic Growth
Access to this structured financing reflects Cailabs’ increasing economic maturity, underpinned by more than 10 Optical Ground Stations (OGS) already under contract.
The proceeds of this financing will support Cailabs’ strategic roadmap, including:
Scaling up production and strengthening its supply chain, with the goal of producing up to 50 OGS annually by 2027. The company has recently established a new industrial platform capable of assembling and validating up to five stations in parallel.
Expanding international footprint, building on recent milestones such as the opening of a larger U.S. office, announced by the Governor of Virginia and large overseas contracts.
Advancing its product offering, including turnkey 100+Gbps solutions, transportable Optical Ground Stations, expanded orbit option…
“Cailabs’ solutions are of strategic importance for France’s sovereignty in Defense and Space,” said Nicolas Berdou, Director of Investments for the funds Fonds Innovation Defense & Definvest.
“We are excited to support Cailabs’ expansion at this pivotal moment for optical communications. The shift is driving significant growth in the space sector, with an ever-increasing impact for mission critical applications and our daily lives,” said Daniel Biedermann, Partner, NewSpace Capital.
“The EIC Fund is happy to be part of this funding round for Cailabs, a pioneering company in photonics. Supporting disruptive innovators like Cailabs is essential to strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in deep tech”, said Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board.
“Cailabs has developed a decisive technology disruption at the heart of the most dynamic Spacetech industry, and they have cracked the key US market, outperforming local industry leaders. It is a real game changer, and continuing supporting such a unique deeptech company was a no-brainer decision for an historical shareholder such as Starquest,” said Arnaud Delattre, Founding Partner & CEO, Starquest Capital.