Auckland orbital-manufacturing startup Outlier Space, founded by ex-Rocket Lab engineer Jamie France, announced on 3 September 2026 that it raised NZ$10.5 million (about US$7.35 million) in pre-seed funding, described as one of New Zealand's largest pre-seed rounds. The round was led by GD1, with AirTree, Side Stage Ventures and Investible participating, to build infrastructure for in-orbit production.
Why this matters for founders
New Zealand deeptech and hardware founders can point to this round as proof that local and trans-Tasman VCs like GD1 and AirTree will write large pre-seed cheques for capital-intensive, science-heavy startups, and target those funds when pitching.
Source: Tech Startups
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