Italian space tech company Astradyne has closed a €2 million seed investment round to accelerate the development of Solar-Z, its innovative ultra-light solar panel designed for space applications. Founded in 2021, Astradyne develops next-generation photovoltaic solutions designed for the New Space Economy, with the aim of making on-board satellite power generation systems lighter, more compact and more efficient, significantly reducing launch costs and increasing performance in orbit.
Astradyne has recently completed its incubation process in I3P and in the ESA BIC Turin program, managed by I3P in collaboration with ESA, the Italian Space Agency, Politecnico di Torino and the LINKS Foundation.
The round was led by Primo Capital through the Primo Space fund, the first VC vehicle entirely dedicated to the Space Economy in the European Union. The round also saw the participation of Galaxia, the National Technology Transfer Hub for Aerospace, created on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital’s Technology Transfer Fund together with Obloo Ventures, already an investor in the pre-seed round, the Eureka! Fund I – Technology Transfer and the Puglia co-investment fund, both managed by Eureka! Venture SGR .
With this investment, Astradyne aims to achieve Technology Readiness Level 9 for Solar-Z, complete in-orbit tests aboard so-called Low Earth Orbit satellites, which orbit the Earth at a relatively low altitude, generally between 200 and 2000 kilometers, and enter into agreements with satellite integrators and manufacturers.
In parallel, the company is developing a complementary product line: Solar-Y, for advanced terrestrial applications, from construction to agriculture to mobile energy systems, adapting solutions designed for the space environment to new needs on Earth, with the aim of rethinking the way we produce energy in dynamic contexts.
Professor Giuliana Mattiazzo, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Technological Innovation at the Polytechnic, commented: “The incubation period of high-innovation startups in I3P and ESA BIC Turin is confirmed as a springboard of absolute value for the companies of the future. And this is even more true in strategic sectors such as aerospace, in which the University continues to invest resources and skills, to create an innovation ecosystem in Turin that is a protagonist in the field of the Space Economy”.
(Source: Politecnico di Torino press release)
