Loft Orbital is honored to join the French Tech Next 40 Programme Class of 2023 as the only space tech company. Launched in 2019 by the French Tech Mission, the French Tech Next40 supports the growth of French start-ups and the broader French Tech Ecosystem. Loft was also part of the French Tech Next 40 Class of 2022.
Loft is driving a paradigm shift in the space industry with their innovative approach to space infrastructure. The team has built a resilient and responsive business model that provides a turnkey approach for any company to get their missions to space quickly. Through the support of regional partners, Loft has established a European growing headquarters in Toulouse, where they have attracted top aerospace and software engineering talent.
In order to provide customers with a fast and simple path to orbit, Loft starts with the supply chain. Loft works with companies such as Airbus Defense & Space from across the French ecosystem, to source everything from satellite buses to smaller components like radios and antennas. After procurement, Loft integrates payloads onto their satellite bus using a modular payload interface called The Hub. Once in space, missions are operated through a platform called Cockpit. Most recently in January 2023, the company successfully launched the YAM-5 mission, which included customers such as Kinéis, NASA, Ball Aerospace and Microsoft.
The French Tech Next 40 class of 2023 is comprised of companies who are committed to doing well in business and for society. The selected companies had to demonstrate strong economic performance, as well as demonstrate commitments to climate, workplace parity and inclusion. Loft has a number of employee-led initiatives that include Minimal Impact, a group designed to reduce impact on climate, and a Women in Leadership series developed to spotlight and advance female leaders in the space industry.
The French Tech Next 40 program participants work closely with French Tech Mission on international development, financing, recruitment, territorial establishment, intellectual property and regulatory issues. Loft has participated in a variety of activities to advance international collaboration between the United States and France, including a Washington D.C. state visit with Emmanuel Macron. As the appetite for access to space for both government and commercial sectors increases, Loft is excited to leverage and support democratizing access to space in France and beyond.
Learn more about the French Tech Next40: www.lafrenchtech.com/en
About French Tech Mission: French Tech Mission is a team of civil servants responsible for helping the ecosystem of French start-ups form and flourish, in France and abroad. As part of the Directorate-General for Enterprise within the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, the Mission coordinates and oversees the French Tech ecosystem with its network of 16 Capitals and 99 Communities, in France and abroad. It also supports start-ups by making it easier for them to interact with the administration via a network of more than 60 French Tech contacts. The French Tech Mission supports the most mature start-ups through the French Tech Next40/120 programme, as well as start-ups operating in sectors identified as strategic as part of the France 2030 plan with its first sector-dedicated programmes: Green20, Agri20, Health20 and DeepNum20. Finally, through the French Tech Tremplin program, the French Tech Mission enables people without an entrepreneurial background to create their own start-up anywhere in France.
Mission French Tech press contact: ft.presse@finances.gouv.fr
Loft Orbital press contact: kati@loftorbital.com