Molten Ventures, Seraphim Space shares rocket with ICEYE fundraise

Molten Ventures PLC and Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC on Tuesday saw their shares rise after noting a successful fundraise by ICEYE Oy, in which both companies hold interest.

Shares in Molten, a backer of digital technology businesses, jumped 11% to 594.50 pence on Tuesday morning in London, and are up 87% over the past year.

SSIT, a London-based investor in space technology, traded 14% higher at 213.57p, having nearly tripled over the past year.

The stock has been climbing ahead of the initial public offering of Space Exploration Technology Corp, Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and AI company, though SSIT has not confirmed whether it will take part.

Molten noted on Tuesday that ICEYE has raised about €450 million through a primary series F funding round led by General Atlantic. The financing is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, and besides General Atlantic, participants include Solidium, Tesi, Varma, Ilmarinen, Lifeline Ventures, Nokia Corp, Qatar Investment Authority and TCV.

Combined with a secondary placement, the transaction is valued at more than €1 billion, and estimates a primary value for ICEYE of more than €10 billion.

ICEYE is an Espoo, Finland-based satellite company whose joint venture with defence contractor Rheinmetall AG has a €1.7 billion Germany army contract.

It is SSIT’s largest holding, accounting for 47.1% of its portfolio at the end of March, and following the fundraise, SSIT expects the holding’s fair value to more than double to about £202 million, equivalent to a 73p-per share rise in net asset value. SSIT expects this to be ‘substantially’ reflected in results for the year that ends on June 30, which it will release in October.

Molten expects the value of its holding in ICEYE to rise to £317 million following the fundraise and secondary sale, more than trebled from approximately £79 million at the end of March. As part of the funding round, Molten has realised a further £22 million of its investment in the company.

It sees this uplift boosting Molten’s gross portfolio value by 16% and NAV per share by 15% to 877p from 760p. However, since this has taken place after March 31, it is not reflected in the year-end figures Molten published separately on Tuesday.

Molten booked a GPV of £1.53 billion at the end of March, up from £1.37 billion a year earlier. NAV per share grew 13% on-year to 760p from 671p and the company realised £120 million in cash proceeds from investments over the course of financial 2026, down slightly from £135 million the previous year.

The company will update on its NAV in an interim announcement scheduled for October.

Molten Chief Executive Ben Wilkinson said artificial intelligence and ‘demand for European technological sovereignty’ point to a favourable landscape for Molten and European venture capital more broadly.

‘Looking ahead, we are pleased with the progress we are making in scaling third-party capital alongside our balance sheet. We have secured a cornerstone commitment for our new growth fund, Molten East is progressing towards a first close later this year and our dedicated Secondaries team is building strong momentum. We also continue to see compelling opportunities in areas such as AI infrastructure, space and dual-use technologies. The opportunity to build Molten into the leading platform for European venture capital has never been clearer, and we enter FY27 with a well-positioned portfolio, growing momentum across our fundraising initiatives and confidence in the path ahead.’

Wilkinson said ICEYE’s fundraise was ‘a powerful validation’ which situates ICEYE ‘among Europe’s most consequential technology companies’.

The CEO added: ‘This is also a milestone for Molten. ICEYE becomes our second decacorn to date... Over the past year there has been a distinct shift with the recognition of the need for technological sovereignty; Molten‘s portfolio of European high-tech companies is well placed to provide the resilience that is required across technology platforms.’

SSIT Chief Investment Officer James Bruegger added: ‘For SSIT shareholders, this financing round demonstrates the company’s ability to provide access to category-leading SpaceTech companies at the forefront of some of the most important technological and geopolitical trends shaping the global economy.’

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