Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Close to $200M Booster with VC Matthew Brown

Virgin Orbit Holdings, billionaire Richard Branson’s struggling small satellite launch and services business, is close to agreeing to a deal for $200 million in much needed capital from Texas-based venture capital investor Matthew Brown, through a private share placement according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

Brown is funding the investment out of his family office, with no contributions from Energent, a fund where he also serves as GP. In exchange for the capital injection, Brown will receive a controlling stake in the California-based company.

The firm, which aims to fire satellites into space, has been on the edge of bankruptcy after the failed launch of its LauncherOne mission in January.

With its market cap in freefall – it dropped to a record low $150 million on Tuesday from over $3 billion when it went public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with NextGen Acquisition two years ago – and few funding opportunities, it led the company to halt operations and furlough staff last week.

Brown has 15 years of space venture capital experience, investing over $1 billion of personal funds in companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Rocket Lab, and Boom Supersonic.

The Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch brokered deal is expected to close Friday.