One of the largest space pre-seed rounds globally, the funding will support ORiS in developing laser-based wireless power transmission systems to recharge satellites and meet the growing demand for energy in orbit.

• €5 million in recently secured funding, including a €4.5 million pre-seed round led by Earlybird and co-led by Pitchdrive, with participation from Galaxia, Vento and Piemonte Next Fund.

• Laser-based wireless power transmission technology designed to give satellites access to additional energy directly in orbit.

• Funding to accelerate technical hiring, critical subsystem R&D, lab and clean-room expansion, and flight model development for a satellite-to-satellite WPT mission.

• Flight model delivery expected by the end of July for ORiS’ 2027 in-orbit demonstration with DCUBED.

• Wireless power transfer demonstrated to a hovering drone at over 100 metres, advancing LOONA from prototype platform toward a dual-use product.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Turin, Italy - 21 July 2026

ORiS, a Turin-based deep-tech startup developing laser-based wireless power transmission systems for space and dual-use applications, has closed a €4.5 million pre-seed round led by Earlybird and co-led by Pitchdrive, with participation from Galaxia, Vento and Piemonte Next Fund. In a separate financing milestone, ORiS has also secured a €0.5 million grant through the Piedmont Region's "Consolidamento patrimoniale e crescita delle start up innovative" programme, bringing the company's recently secured funding to €5 million.

Founded by four Politecnico di Torino engineers — Andrea Villa (CEO), Anna Mauro (CTO), Domenico Edoardo Sfasciamuro (CCO) and Francesco Lopez (COO) — ORiS emerged from the CDP Venture Capital ecosystem with the support of Galaxia and is building an in-orbit energy distribution grid. Its laser-based wireless power transmission technology is designed to give satellites access to additional energy directly in orbit, addressing the growing power needs of a new generation of increasingly capable and energy-intensive satellites.

"ORiS' vision is to support the disruptive growth of the space economy by reshaping the standard for how satellites are designed and operated," said Andrea Villa, CEO and Co-Founder of ORiS. "We want to optimize satellites for high performance and profitability. Our first step is to make energy in orbit a commodity, available at any time, just as we are used to here on Earth."

For spacecraft already in orbit, this could allow operators to use their payloads more often, operate through eclipse periods, and extend mission lifetime as solar panels degrade. For future satellites, the availability of in-orbit energy on demand could change how missions are designed, opening new ways to size the electrical power system, manage payload operations and plan more ambitious missions.

"The next wave of space innovation will depend not only on better satellites, but on the infrastructure that enables them to operate more effectively," said Dr. Frédéric du Bois-Reymond, Venture Partner at Earlybird. "ORiS is building critical energy infrastructure for orbit, and we believe this has the potential to become a foundational capability for the future space economy."

While ORiS' mid-term objective is to deliver energy between satellites in orbit, its technology is already being validated through LOONA, the company's wireless recharging prototype platform for drones, developed within NATO DIANA's accelerator programme. ORiS has demonstrated wireless power transfer to a hovering drone at more than 100 metres, giving the company a near-term dual-use application and a practical testbed for the same laser-based power transmission capabilities it is developing for space.

"ORiS' dual-use roadmap combines near-term validation with an ambitious vision for the future," said Koen Christiaens, Managing Partner at Pitchdrive. "LOONA gives the company a faster path to validating its core wireless power technology and building commercial momentum, while supporting its broader vision of making energy more accessible in space."

This dual-use approach reflects ORiS' broader strategy: building laser-based wireless power transmission know-how across the environments where access to energy is most constrained. The company is among the first European players developing this capability across terrestrial dual-use applications, Low Earth Orbit and lunar infrastructure. For lunar applications, ORiS is working on wireless power transmission to surface assets such as rovers, a use case the team has already explored in a feasibility study for Thales Alenia Space.

The pre-seed funding will be used to expand ORiS' technical team, accelerate R&D on critical subsystems, move into new offices equipped with laboratory and clean-room capabilities, develop the flight model for a future satellite-to-satellite WPT mission, and advance LOONA from prototype platform toward a product dual-use system. By the end of July, ORiS expects to deliver a flight model for its first in-orbit mission with DCUBED, planned for 2027, designed to demonstrate wireless power transmission over a 10-metre distance.

About ORiS

ORiS, founded in 2024, is a Turin-based deep-tech startup supported by the I3P Incubator of Politecnico di Torino and the ESA BIC Turin programme, developing laser-based wireless power transmission systems for space and dual-use applications. The company was founded at Politecnico di Torino by Andrea Villa, Anna Mauro, Domenico Edoardo Sfasciamuro and Francesco Lopez while they were completing their MSc in Aerospace Engineering, with the support and technical guidance of Prof. Stefano Mauro. ORiS combines know-how in high-power lasers, pointing systems, detection and tracking, and thermal control to deliver wireless power transmission where conventional wired power transfer is not possible. Its mission is to power a multiplanetary future.

More information on: www.oris-space.com, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Press contact: Francesco Lopez — press@oris-space.com

About Earlybird Venture Capital

Founded in 1997, Pan-European VC Earlybird backs exceptional early-stage companies, supporting them through their growth and development phases and providing financial resources, strategic support, plus access to an international network and capital markets. Through two separate strategies, Earlybird focuses on tech-enabled businesses across software applications, infrastructure, and deep tech, while Earlybird Health focuses on life science breakthroughs accelerated by data-driven analytics and operations. Earlybird also has a pro-bono impact initiative, Vision Lab. With EUR 2.5 billion under management across fund streams and a history of 9 IPOs and 41 trade sales, Earlybird is among Europe's most established and active venture capital firms.

More information on www.earlybird.com, LinkedIn, and X.

About Pitchdrive

Pitchdrive is a European Co-founder Capital firm backing pre-seed and seed founders from day one. Founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, the firm invests €250K–€2M tickets, with offices in Antwerp, Ghent, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, London and New York. Chaired by team.blue founder Jonas Dhaenens, Pitchdrive's mentor network spans more than 20 entrepreneurs, including founders and leaders from European success stories. (www.pitchdrive.com)

About Galaxia

Galaxia is the Italian Technology Transfer Hub on Aerospace, powered by CDP Venture Capital together with Obloo Ventures. Its mission is to promote the development of startups conceived within research laboratories specialized in the aerospace sector. The scientific promoters of Galaxia are Politecnico di Torino and Sapienza University of Rome, together with other leading Italian universities, including the University of Padua and Politecnico di Bari. NEVA SGR, the venture capital company of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, and Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation are investors in the initiative. Obloo Ventures acts as the entrepreneurial partner and co-investor of the hub, managing the scouting, investment execution and portfolio monitoring. Along with Lazio Innova and the I3P Incubator of the Politecnico di Torino, Obloo Ventures also coordinates the business creation program, dedicated to startups originating from academic research and selected by the hub for seed investments.

More information on https://galaxia.vc/it/

About Vento

Vento is Italy's most active private venture capital fund investing at early stage — pre-seed and seed — across all sectors, with at least one Italian founder on the team. To date, through its two vehicles entirely backed by Exor — the second, a €75 million fund launched in January 2025 — Vento has invested in over 175 startups. Alongside its investment activity, Vento runs two ecosystem initiatives. Reef is its venture building programme: every year since 2021, it brings 40 aspiring founders to Turin for five months, helping them build teams and launch new startups. Companies born from the programme include Lexroom, Qura, and Arke. The second initiative, Wave, is one of Europe's most influential tech conferences, bringing together founders, investors and operators from across the globe. Past speakers include Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman and Brian Chesky — and this year's lineup features Dario Amodei, Jony Ive and Tim Berners-Lee.