Investments · Satellite communications
SoftBank co-leads $1.25 billion funding round for satellite operator OneWeb
- Investor
- SoftBank Group (co-lead investor) (Tokyo)
- In
- OneWeb, London, United Kingdom (US operations in Virginia and Florida)
- Value
- $1.25B round
- Status
- Announced on March 18, 2019; closed in 2019. OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2020.
- Date
- 2019-03-18
SoftBank Group, OneWeb's largest existing investor, co-led a $1.25 billion funding round with Grupo Salinas, Qualcomm and the Government of Rwanda. SoftBank's own share was not stated. OneWeb is based in London but has US operations in Arlington, Virginia, and a satellite factory near Cape Canaveral, Florida, where much of the money was to be spent. Refinitiv lists the deal at ¥139.3 billion.
Why it matters
The round kept SoftBank at the center of a plan to deliver internet access from low-Earth orbit, with much of the hardware built in the US. The company's bankruptcy a year later showed the high risk of the strategy.
The plan
The round was OneWeb's largest to date and brought its total funding to $3.4 billion. It came after the company launched its first six satellites. OneWeb planned monthly launches of 30 or more satellites from October 2019 to build a constellation of 650 satellites in low-Earth orbit, with global service targeted for 2021.
Partners and outcome
OneWeb was building its satellites with Airbus at a factory nearing completion at the time. Its partners included Arianespace, Qualcomm, Virgin and Hughes. In March 2020, after failing to raise more money, OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
