Spain's PLD Space adds $125 million to its latest funding round

Sept 1 (Reuters) - Aerospace engineering firm PLD Space said on Tuesday it had extended its equity funding round by €108 million ($125 million), bringing the round's total to €288 million.

The company's cumulative funding stands at €488 million, as it seeks to boost its capacity to launch rockets into space.

• The new capital will support the industrialisation and commercialisation of the MIURA 5 launcher, the Spanish company said, including expanded manufacturing and testing capacity, new launch infrastructure, and preparations for commercial operations.

• It said the additional funding for its series C round — a mechanism often used by startups to expand into new markets, develop products or prepare for a stock market listing — is led by Mitsubishi Electric.

• Previously in March, PLD Space closed a €180 million equity funding round, which also included Mitsubishi Electric.

• Spain's partly state-owned investment company COFIDES is participating again, the firm said, as well as new investors Endeavor Catalyst and the Spain Oman Private Equity Fund, managed by MCH Private Equity.

• In 2023, PLD Space launched Europe's first fully private rocket.

($1 = 0.8626 euros)

(Reporting by Benjamín Mejías Valencia; Editing by Sharon Singleton)