Mantis Space Raises $10M+ in Seed Funding to Build Orbital Power Infrastructure
The space economy has a quiet little problem nobody loves to talk about. Sunlight clocks out. Satellites slip into Earth’s shadow. Systems stall, batteries drain, operators hold their breath and watch the meter. In orbit, darkness is not metaphorical. It is operational risk. So when a company shows up saying it plans to beam power across space like a cosmic extension cord, people either lean in or lean back and squint. Mantis Space just leaned all the way in and raised $10M+ in seed funding to prove the point.
Congratulations to Eric Truitt, CEO, and co-founder Wyman Howard III along with co-founder Jeremy Scheerer for bringing Mantis Space out of stealth with real momentum. The round was led by Rule 1 Ventures with backing from Montauk Capital, and the signal here is loud enough to bounce off a few satellites. Investors are not just betting on a spacecraft. They are betting on infrastructure. The kind of infrastructure that turns the lights on for an entire orbital economy.
Mantis Space is building what amounts to the power grid for orbit. Their spacecraft will operate in lower Medium Earth Orbit, using precise laser technology to beam energy thousands of kilometers to satellites when those systems drift into eclipse. No sunlight. No problem. The moment a satellite loses its solar advantage, Mantis intends to step in and keep the electrons moving. Less downtime, longer missions, better economics. In a market where every watt matters, that kind of reliability starts looking less like a luxury and more like table stakes.
The company planted its headquarters and advanced manufacturing hub in Albuquerque, New Mexico after launching originally in Kennesaw, Georgia. New Mexico saw the vision and backed it with serious support through the Local Economic Development Act along with city investment from Albuquerque. The plan is to build more than 200 high wage jobs while creating a center of gravity for advanced space infrastructure. Average salaries are expected to exceed $180K, and the projected economic impact for the region is estimated to surpass $480M over the coming years.
There is a lesson here for founders watching the space economy unfold. The loudest opportunities are rarely the ones everyone is chasing. Launch gets the headlines. Satellites get the glamour. Infrastructure quietly builds the empire underneath it all. Power, connectivity, logistics. The plumbing of space. That is where durable companies tend to hide, waiting for the right team to bring them into the spotlight.
And that is what makes this moment interesting. Eric Truitt, Wyman Howard III, and Jeremy Scheerer are not pitching another satellite. They are building the electricity behind the satellites. If the orbital economy is heading toward $1T in the next decade, someone has to keep the lights on up there. Turns out the answer might be a praying mantis with a laser and a very ambitious extension cord.
#SpaceEconomy #StartupFunding #SpaceInfrastructure #VentureCapital #NewMexico #Innovation
