1/ Since @elonmusk started @SpaceX in 2002, the company has raised $6.7B.

Here's how they did it.

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2/ Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (aka SpaceX) was incorporated in May 2002 with the goal of building affordable rockets.

Elon had just sold Paypal to eBay for $1.5B and used some of his proceeds to capitalize SpaceX.

3/ The first investment round in 2002 raised $12.095MM from 5 investors.

Musk was the lead and majority investor in the round with other "known" investors including Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother, and John Bautista, a lawyer at Orrick.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/vprr/0206/02068190.pdf

4/ In March 2005, SpaceX raised another financing round. This time, Musk invested $50MM into the company.

SpaceX raised another round of $30MM in March '07 with Musk, again, being the only investor.

By August 2008, SpaceX and Musk were nearly out of money.

5/ SpaceX in August 2008 was far from the successful company it is today. It had launched 3 rockets and all had failed to reach orbit.

Musk approached Northrop Grumman for money, but they said no.

6/ He then approached his old friend Luke Nosek and his venture fund, Founders Fund, to invest.

They agreed and invested $20MM into SpaceX.

7/ The money saved SpaceX because, in December 2008, SpaceX received a $1.6B contract from NASA.

While the company wasn't completely out of the woods, it was a less risky bet for investors.

8/ In 2009, SpaceX received its second round of outside capital from DFJ (now Threshold) led by @FutureJurvetson).

They reportedly invested $15MM with some media sources stating the round was as big as $60MM.

9/ In 2010, SpaceX raised another equity financing round of $50MM from 16 investors. SpaceX reportedly only received investment from existing investors.

SpaceX stated, "Our existing investors are bullish on the future of SpaceX and asked if they could invest more"

10/ SpaceX then went 5 years without taking outside capital until January 2015.

Google, Fidelity and existing investors put in nearly $1B which valued SpaceX at over $10B.

Musk raised the money to begin the development of SpaceX's satellite internet constellation, Starlink.

11/ In November 2017, SpaceX raised a Series H round of $450MM at a $21B valuation.

SpaceX raised two more rounds in 2018:

• A round in April '18 led by Fidelity of $500MM at a $25B valuation
• A $250M high-yield loan sale facilitated by Bank of America in November '18.

12/ 2019 was a big year on the funding front for SpaceX. It raised more than $1B in funds over 3 rounds:

• $500MM at $31B in Jan '19
• $540MM at $34B in April '19
• $310MM at $35B in June '19

13/ 2019 was a big year on the funding front for SpaceX. It raised more than $1B in funds over 3 rounds:

• $500MM at $31B in Jan '19
• $540MM at $34B in April '19
• $310MM at $35B in June '19

14/ 2020, SpaceX raised two more rounds:

• $350MM at $37B in May '20
• $1.9B at $46B in August '20

15/ Their August '20 round was their biggest raise to date. Fidelity, was rumored, to be the largest investor in the round.

The round came after SpaceX completed the first American crewed mission since 2011.

16/ And finally, SpaceX raised $1.16B in 2021. The latest round brings their current valuation to $74B.

So why has SpaceX raised so much money?

17/ Well, what SpaceX wants to do needs a lot of money.

Starlink, their satellite internet constellation, will cost at least $10B to get off the ground according to Musk.

The cost of a crewed mission to Mars will be even more than building Starlink.

18/ The second question you probably asked reading this is, "Why has SpaceX not completed an IPO?"

Musk doesn't need public markets. It is clear that Musk can raise as much money as he wants in private markets.

Why go through the hassles of being publicly traded?

19/ SpaceX isn't done raising money. I wouldn't be surprised if raise another $1B before the year ends.

Long-term, many expect Starlink to spin off and complete an IPO.

Musk himself even said it. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1359027355851841536?lang=en

20/ When will SpaceX go public? Your guess is as good as mine. But I'm excited to see Musk and SpaceX take on the hard problem of getting a crewed flight to Mars.

One day, every company will be a space company.

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