Seed round will expand the sales team and coverage, including for novel missions like lunar and space-based nuclear power
Charter Space, an El Segundo, California-based startup building software and insurance products for the space industry, has raised a $5 million seed round. Insurance-focused Crystal Venture Partners led the round, with participation from fintech investors QED and Blank Ventures, early-stage firm Hustle Fund, and Gaingels, a syndicate that backs startups with underrepresented leadership. The company has now raised $8 million in total.
Early traction
Earlier this year, Charter launched a nationally licensed insurance brokerage. It says it already serves more than 50 companies across the U.S. space and defense industrial base. The company acts as a broker rather than the insurer taking on spacecraft risk itself.
Why space insurance is hard
Insuring satellites and other space assets remains a niche practice, largely because underwriting such complex risks is expensive. Charter's founder, Yuk Chi Chan, says those high costs have historically kept many satellites uninsured. The company first built a software platform that brings together engineering, manufacturing and testing data, and later realized the same data could make underwriting more accurate. Charter says traditional insurers often balk at the technical complexity of space missions.
Unlocking other kinds of capital
Chan argues that insurance gives space companies a financial backstop after a mission failure and can help them tap debt and credit, not just venture capital. A managing partner at the lead investor called insurance critical infrastructure for a sustainable space industry. Florida's insurance regulation commissioner said insurance is the precondition for growth in space and that the state leading on insurance will attract capital for industries of the future.
What's next
Charter will use the funding to grow its sales organization and expand its insurance offerings. Planned additions include coverage for novel missions such as space-based nuclear power, lunar missions and in-space servicing of other spacecraft.
It is not yet clear whether Charter's data-driven underwriting has reduced the cost or time of getting coverage.