'Satellites should be small to be cheap' common sense broken… Global VCs flocking their big money here

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K2 Space, a U.S. space startup transforming the aerospace industry's paradigm by shifting large satellite production to a factory-style Yangsan system, has successfully secured major funding.

According to major foreign media outlets including Bloomberg and Reuters on the 31st, K2 Space recently raised $5 million won (approximately 690 billion won) in Series D funding. Through this investment round, its recognized corporate valuation reached $6.8 billion (approximately 9.7 trillion won).

This investment was jointly led by global venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins and Iconiq, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alphabet's CapitalG, and Altium Capital.

Founded in 2022, K2 Space was co-founded by brothers Neil Kunzour, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) who led Dragon spacecraft development at SpaceX, and Karan Kunzour, CEO (Chief Executive Officer), a former Boston Consulting Group (BCG) executive. The company specializes in manufacturing large satellites for high-power missions such as AI computing, military communications, and missile defense using the Yangsan system.

K2 Space has established vertical integration by designing and manufacturing approximately 85% of its core components itself, drastically reducing the unit cost of large satellites from hundreds of millions of dollars to below $15 million (approximately 21.5 billion won). The first satellite achieved 20kW (kilowatt) power output comparable to Airbus and Boeing commercial satellites. This level of power is sufficient not only for broadband communication systems enabling ultra-high-speed internet but also for operating high-performance military sensors. The company also successfully launched its first self-produced satellite this year.

Currently, K2 Space's order backlog has exceeded $1 billion (approximately 1.43 trillion won). Notably, the company is participating in the U.S. administration under Donald Trump's space-based missile defense system project called "Golden Dome," alongside defense firm Anduril and others.

The company plans to invest this funding into expanding production capacity at its Torrance, California factory and securing specialized personnel. It is also developing a next-generation satellite platform capable of producing five times the power of current models, targeting production in 2028 and launch in 2029. Additionally, the company envisions utilizing its satellite platforms for future space data center construction.

Meanwhile, in the recent space startup investment market, founders who are former SpaceX engineers have proven their presence. This year alone, space transportation startup Impulse Space secured major funding, and rocket company Relativity Space also raised significant capital. It is evaluated that manufacturing and launch experience accumulated at SpaceX has become the foundation for new space industry entrepreneurship.

As AI technology spreads and cyber threats escalate, global venture investment firms (VCs) are directing funds toward startups that combine AI with cybersecurity.

According to the global corporate information platform Crunchbase, startups combining AI and cybersecurity secured a total of $855 million (approximately 1.23 trillion won) through more than 150 seed investment rounds this year. If current trends continue, annual seed investment in related fields is projected to reach an all-time high.

Recently, even at early startup stages, large investments in the tens of millions of dollars are occurring consecutively. AI-based identity verification platform OAK secured $60 million (approximately 86.4 billion won) in seed funding, while Seallake, founded by Palo Alto Networks co-founder Nir Zuk, also raised $45 million. Jetstream Security, established by former CrowdStrike employees, closed its $34 million seed round with an oversubscribed housing subscription.

The background for large capital flowing into these companies lies in the founders' competitiveness. Seallake was founded by Nir Zuk, co-founder of global security firm Palo Alto Networks, and Jetstream Security also saw participation from personnel from major security firms such as CrowdStrike and SentinelOne. In essence, bets were placed first on the founders' experience and technical capabilities rather than current performance.

The market believes that as competition for building AI infrastructure intensifies, the importance of AI security technology will grow accordingly.

Notably, a recent incident where an AI agent being tested by OpenAI to evaluate cybersecurity performance escaped its controlled experimental environment and attacked the system of open-source AI platform Hugging Face has heightened awareness about AI security. Industry observers predict that investment enthusiasm for AI security startups will continue for some time due to this trend.

ETN, a European technology-focused media startup comparable to the U.S.'s representative tech live show "TBPN," has secured major funding and will dramatically expand its broadcast schedule.

According to major foreign media outlets including TechCrunch, London-based media startup ETN recently raised $1.6 million (approximately 2.3 billion won) in seed funding. This round included participation from Powerhouse Capital, Axel Springer, and angel investors who are former employees of OpenAI and DeepMind.

ETN is a technology-focused media outlet co-founded by Luke Knight and Ronan Chambers last October. It has surpassed 5 million cumulative views by delivering news on European startups, AI, and venture investment trends via X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. Appearances have included founders and executives from leading European AI startups such as generative video company Synthesia, legal tech firm Legola, and AI memo service Granola, while U.S. VC representatives like those from Andreessen Horowitz also participate in broadcasts when visiting London.

This investment was driven by the rapid growth of Europe's startup ecosystem. According to data released by Crunchbase, European startups received a total of $24 billion (approximately 36.72 trillion won) in funding during the second quarter of this year. This represents an increase of approximately 32% from the previous quarter and about 66% compared to the same period last year. It is the highest quarterly performance since 2022. By country, the United Kingdom stood out most prominently. UK startups raised $10.4 billion, ranking first in Europe.

Co-founder Chambers explained the background for expanding programming: "It was difficult to keep up with the rapid changes in Europe's technology ecosystem with traditional media alone."

To respond to approximately 70 appearance requests per week, ETN has restructured its existing twice-weekly live broadcasts into a five-day-a-week format. The company plans to use the funding to relocate to a large studio in London King's Cross and regularize daily noon technology news reporting and founder-investor interview programs. In the future, guests such as Sequoia Capital partner George Robson and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are also expected to appear.

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