Interlune, a Seattle, WA-based natural resources company, raised $18M in Seed funding.
The round was led by Seven Seven Six, with participation from Aurelia Foundry Fund, Gaingels, Liquid 2 Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and a committed group of University of Michigan alumni.
The company intends to use the funds to further develop and operationalize technology to extract Helium-3 and other natural resources from the Moon.
Founded by former Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson and Chief Architect Gary Lai, and Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, Interlune is a natural resources company committed to sustainable and responsible harvesting of natural resources from space to benefit humanity. Aiming to be the first U.S. company to commercialize resources from space, it has developed patent-pending technology that extracts materials from the lunar soil, or regolith, using the smallest, most energy-efficient machinery ever conceived. Ultimately, the company will offer these valuable resources to commercial and government customers on Earth and establish an in-space economy using the resources on the Moon and beyond.
Interlune will initially focus on extracting and transporting lunar Helium-3 back to Earth for use by commercial and government customers in national security, quantum computing, medical imaging, and fusion energy markets. Helium-3, an isotope of Helium, is extremely scarce on Earth but abundant on the Moon.
The company’s core intellectual property includes novel technologies for the excavation and processing of industrial quantities of lunar soil, or regolith, to extract Helium-3 and other resources. Its lunar harvester is smaller, lighter, and requires less power than other industry concepts, making it less expensive to transport to the Moon and operate once it’s there.
FinSMEs
14/03/2024