Aetherflux, the space solar power startup launched by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, is in talks to raise 250 million to 350 million dollars for a Series B funding round. This round would value the company at 2 billion dollars. The fundraising was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which noted that Index Ventures is leading the deal. Since its founding in 2024, Aetherflux has raised approximately 80 million dollars. The company has declined to comment on the current round.
In recent months, Aetherflux has shifted its focus. While it began with a vision of transmitting electricity to Earth via lasers, it is now pushing its power-generating technology toward space data centers. This change deemphasizes the original goal of beaming power to the ground. Other space companies, including SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Starcloud, are also developing new architectures for distributed computing in space.
In an interview last week, Bhatt addressed the strategic shift. He joked, “Let the record show we never lifted our pivot foot — it wasn’t a travel.” He explained that about a year ago, the company realized its technology would be more advantageous for powering AI if the computing chips were placed directly in space, rather than projecting the power down to a terrestrial data center.
The company plans to continue experiments in laser power transmission using a satellite bus built by Apex Space. However, Aetherflux expects its first data center satellite to launch in 2027. Bhatt stated the company’s goal is to build something that competes with terrestrial economics, while acknowledging the significant challenges involved.