# Tumbleweed Raises EUR 6.9M in Austria's Largest Spacetech Seed Round After SpaceX Turned Down Its First Two Proposals
> Austrian spacetech startup Tumbleweed raises EUR 6.9M led by PactVC after SpaceX rejected its first two proposals, to fly more microgravity experiments in orbit.
- **Author:** Prashant Jagtap
- **Published:** 2026-11-03
- **Updated:** 2026-11-03
- **Category:** Startups
- **Editorial type:** news
- **Topics:** spacex, spacetech, austrian-startups, seed-funding
- **Canonical URL:** https://www.todaysstartupnews.com/startups/tumbleweed-raises-6-9m-seed-microgravity-pods-spacex-launch
## Key takeaways
- Vienna and Delft-based Tumbleweed has raised EUR 6.9 million in what is described as the largest spacetech seed round in Austrian history, led by PactVC
- Vanagon Ventures, Prototype Capital, EWOR and international investors and angels also took part
- Its first mission, Oasis Alpha, launched on SpaceX Transporter-17 on July 7, 2026, carrying experiments for four first-time space customers
- The funding will support three missions in 2027 for more than ten customers, and work on Oasis Beta, a return-capable spacecraft now planned for 2028
Tumbleweed, an Austrian spacetech startup, has raised EUR 6.9 million in what is described as the largest spacetech seed round in Austrian history. PactVC led the round, with Vanagon Ventures, early backer Prototype Capital, EWOR and a group of international investors and angels also taking part. The funding arrives four months after the company launched Austria's first commercial satellite.

Tumbleweed was founded in 2024 by Julian Rothenbuchner, who is chief executive, Guillaume Brault and Leonhard Goliasch, and operates from Vienna and Delft. The company traces its roots to Team Tumbleweed, a wind-powered Mars rover project that Rothenbuchner started as a teenager in 2016 and that received funding from the European Space Agency. It now employs 25 people, and more than a third of them have invested their own money in the business.

The startup builds modular laboratory Pods that fly aboard its free-flying Oasis orbital platform. The aim is to give researchers, manufacturers and R&D teams access to microgravity without having to develop their own space infrastructure. Rothenbuchner has argued that the main obstacle is not the rocket but the process of getting an experiment into orbit, since preparing payloads, winning launch approval, proving safety and managing orbital operations normally require specialist expertise and can add years to a project.

The Pods are pre-certified, fault-isolated containers that supply power, data connectivity and the infrastructure needed to run experiments. Customers install their equipment and test it in their own facilities before handing the Pod over for launch. Once in orbit, each Pod works much like a remote server, so researchers can monitor and control experiments from the ground and receive data during the mission.

Tumbleweed's first mission, Oasis Alpha, launched on July 7, 2026 aboard SpaceX Transporter-17. The 3.6-kilogram CubeSat was built in nine months, which the company says is five times faster than the industry standard. It carried experiments for four customers, Delft University of Technology, the European Space Resources Innovation Centre, The Spring Institute for Forests on the Moon and Mass Balance, all of them first-time users of space. The mission was fully booked a year before launch and paid for upfront.

SpaceX turned down the startup's first two certification proposals and accepted the third. Rothenbuchner has also spoken publicly about how difficult SpaceX's initial rejection was before the company eventually flew on one of its rockets.

According to the company, Oasis Alpha showed that organisations with no previous space experience can run an experiment in three to four months for around EUR 30,000. Missions start at EUR 15,000, and the price covers a Pod, development support, launch services and operational support. Tumbleweed reports a customer conversion rate of about 40 percent, with roughly two-thirds of customers arriving through inbound enquiries. Its customers have so far been mainly universities and hospitals, and the company is moving toward national research institutes, contract research organisations and wider industrial users.

The experiments flown so far include materials science work on recrystallisation and protein synthesis using bacteria. For its next missions, the company is working with researchers studying how the immune system ages, as well as cardiovascular deconditioning and wound healing.

The new funding will pay for three missions planned for 2027, which are expected to carry more than ten customers with payloads from medical research, biotechnology and agritech laboratories. It will also accelerate development of Oasis Beta, a spacecraft with re-entry capability that will let customers retrieve physical samples. Oasis Beta is scheduled for 2028. Tumbleweed is developing its own re-entry vehicle and is validating its engineering models through simulations and targeted physical testing.

Rothenbuchner said the company is currently very dependent on SpaceX but is working to change that. Tumbleweed is in talks with launch providers in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific and has signed a memorandum of understanding with French launcher SIRIUS Space Services to examine whether its Pods can fly on SIRIUS rockets, starting with the S1B Ballistic test flight. The company can also use suborbital flights for early-stage experiments.

Other companies in the field have raised far larger sums. Varda raised $251 million on September 30, The Exploration Company raised $450 million in September, and Atmos Space Cargo closed a EUR 25.7 million Series A in April. Tumbleweed sells certified containers and handles the regulatory work, rather than focusing on returning materials.

Daniel Dippold, chief executive of EWOR, said Tumbleweed put Austria's first commercial satellite in orbit in less time than it usually takes to certify a single experiment. Andreas Klinger of Prototype Capital said the approach lets customers order a box that is then launched, rather than spending years preparing their own satellites. Austria's federal minister for innovation, mobility and infrastructure, Peter Hanke, said the round shows Austrian space technology attracting international private capital.