A new report from the company – The Future of Frontier Tech – says more than $2billion was invested in space, drones and augmented/virtual reality in the first half of 2015.
Space startups raised $1.76bn in the first half of 2015, dominated by a $1bn investment in SpaceX and $500million in OneWeb. According to CB Insights, Google has been a strategic investor and acquirer within the frontier tech space over the years, with Google Ventures tied for the most active VC since 2012.
While SpaceX has attracted much of the funding, the research says that multiple companies focused on either the deployment or use of nanosatellites have received funding since 2012.
Drone investment activity has now increased for four quarters in a row, with $109m raised across 16 deals in Q2 of 2015. Investments since 2012, the report notes, have largely been focused on hardware, software and services, with only 18% of companies looking to address infrastructure.
Meanwhile, augmented and virtual reality investments have reached double digits in six of the last seven quarters. Companies focusing on commercial applications represented 40% of funded start ups in this segment, with 34% of funded companies focusing on hardware platforms.
