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Schoenherr advised venture capital investor Pact VC as lead investor on the EUR 6.9m seed financing round for Tumbleweed, a Vienna-based SpaceTech start-up founded in 2024. The round also saw participation from Vanagon Ventures, Prototype Capital and EWOR, as well as international investors and business angels. More than a third of Tumbleweed's 25-strong team also invested in the round, contributing around EUR 300,000 in total. According to the company, it is the largest SpaceTech seed round in Austrian history.
Pact VC is an early-stage venture capital investor backing founders in Responsible AI, Human Potential and Planetary Resilience. Founded by operators who have built and exited companies across several markets, including Clause (acquired by Docusign) and GlobalFoundries (taken to a NASDAQ listing), Pact takes a hands-on, transatlantic approach to supporting its portfolio companies.
Just four months earlier, Tumbleweed had launched "Oasis Alpha", Austria's first commercial satellite, into orbit aboard a SpaceX rocket. The company develops pre-certified payload containers ("pods") that enable research institutions, manufacturers and R&D teams to conduct experiments in microgravity without having to build their own satellites or go through the complex space certification process themselves.
The fresh capital will fund three further missions in 2027, involving more than 10 customers from medical research, biotechnology and agricultural technology. Tumbleweed also plans to accelerate the development of "Oasis Beta", the next generation of its platform, which from 2028 is set to carry larger payloads and safely return experimental samples to Earth.
"We are delighted to have supported Pact VC on its first investment in Austria," said Dominik Tyrybon, who led the day-to-day advisory work on the transaction. "Tumbleweed demonstrates that Austria can compete internationally in SpaceTech. Just four months after the launch of the country's first commercial satellite, Austria has seen its largest-ever SpaceTech seed round. Helping international investors navigate the local legal landscape is something we are particularly passionate about, and we look forward to supporting Pact VC in its continued growth in the region."
The Schoenherr team was led by Thomas Kulnigg (Partner) and Dominik Tyrybon (Attorney at Law), with the support of Maximilian Czernin (Attorney at Law) and Nikolaus Vetter (Associate).
Barnert Egermann Illigasch Rechtsanwälte acted as advisor to Tumbleweed.
Thomas
Kulnigg
Partner
austria vienna
Katharina
Falkner
Corporate Communications Manager
austria vienna