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Wearable Robotics successfully closes its capital increase

Wearable Robotics has successfully closed its capital increase, raising over €2.5 million to support the company’s growth. The Italian firm is an international leader in the field of exoskeletons and wearable robotics.
The round exceeded the initial target of €2 million. ClubDeal Digital syndicated the raise, bringing the total to more than €2.5 million by adding to the capital subscribed through ClubDealOnline’s fully digital platform by Progress Tech Transfer, the investment fund focused on sustainability-driven technologies developed in collaboration with Italian public research; LIFTT, the venture capital holding chaired by entrepreneur-scientist Stefano Buono; and RoboIT, the National Technology Transfer Hub for Robotics and Automation promoted by CDP Venture Capital SGR.

The success of the fundraising was also made possible thanks to the collaboration with Sparkasse Private Banking, following ClubDealOnline’s Private Crowdfunding model.

About Wearable Robotics

Founded in 2014, Wearable Robotics is an Italian company recognized internationally as a leader in exoskeleton and wearable robotics technologies, specializing in advanced robotic solutions for motor and functional rehabilitation.
The company operates in eight countries and holds seven patents in kinematics, sensors, actuation systems, and exoskeleton design.
Its flagship product is ALEx RS, a wearable robotic device used for upper-limb rehabilitation in stroke patients, operating within a fully virtual environment.

Startup Selection: the role of iStarter

The decision to invest in the company followed a thorough scouting process conducted by iStarter’s Origination team, which, leveraging its exclusive model for Startup and ScaleUp scouting and evaluation, supported ClubDeal Digital throughout the fundraising.

A key contribution also came from Cristiano Fontana, Lead Partner, who has worked in the medical sector for over 15 years.
Wearable Robotics successfully passed a comprehensive assessment, including ESG evaluation.
The investment decision was based on the company’s strong fundamentals and solid market positioning, supporting its ongoing international expansion.
Wearable Robotics already has an active partnership with a major Chinese group for industrial exoskeleton design and is negotiating new agreements with leading sector distributors.

Nel Sole 24 Ore un articolo di approfondimento.

D-Orbit secures a €26 million contract with ESA

D-Orbit, the space logistics and orbital transportation company listed on ClubDealOnline in 2020 through the vehicle D-Spazio Capital Partners, announced today, April 5, the signing of a €26 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for IRIDE, the space observation program launched by the Italian government.
The initiative will monitor critical infrastructure, air quality, and weather conditions, and will provide data for applications supporting commercial startups, SMEs, and industry. The program includes the creation of a satellite constellation, ground infrastructures, and services for the Italian public administration.

Under this contract, D-Orbit will supply a SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite and manage its operational flight segment on behalf of the end user. The agreement also includes an option for an additional SAR satellite worth €24 million.
The SAR sensor will be developed by MetaSensing, an Italian company specializing in advanced radar technologies.

The IRIDE program will consist of a satellite constellation, ground operational infrastructures, and services for the Italian public sector. The constellation—scheduled for launch between 2025 and 2026—will employ a variety of sensing techniques and technologies, including microwave and optical imaging across different frequencies.
It will deliver data for applications supporting startups, SMEs, and industrial users.

IRIDE will assist the Italian Civil Protection agency and other organizations in monitoring critical infrastructures, air quality, and meteorological conditions. The data gathered by the constellation will also support applications for commercial startups, SMEs, and industry.

The PNRR (Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan) has allocated around €2 billion to the space economy as part of its Digitalization Mission.

D-Orbit launches two ION Satellite Carriers on its seventh mission

D-Orbit, the space logistics and orbital transportation company listed on ClubDealOnline in 2020 through the vehicle D-Spazio Capital Partners, has launched Second Star to the Right, the seventh commercial mission of the ION Satellite Carrier (ION), D-Orbit’s proprietary orbital transfer vehicle (OTV). This is the first mission to carry two ION units in a single launch.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on January 3, 2023, at 9:56 a.m. ET (14:56 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Both vehicles were successfully deployed into a 525 km sun-synchronous orbit, respectively 1h 24m and 1h 26m after liftoff.

With the launch successfully completed, D-Orbit’s mission control team is now performing launch and early orbit operations (LEOP)—a sequence of checks to assess the vehicle’s health before entering the operational phase.

Collaboration with Clients

ION is a flexible and efficient OTV designed to precisely deploy satellites and host third-party payloads for orbital demonstrations. During this mission, ION SCV007 and SCV008 will deploy the following satellites:

purpose is to demonstrate NPC Spacemind’s platforms in orbit, together with ARTICA, an innovative deorbiting sail meant to accelerate orbital decay and help mitigate space debris. Both spacecraft will be released using the CubeSat deployer SMPOD12XL-3X (NPC Spacemind). Engineered for high performance and operational flexibility—including rapid reset and rearming—the SMPOD enables fast turnaround and strong economic competitiveness.

Four 5-kg CubeSats from Astrocast. These satellites, equipped with attitude determination and control systems (ADCS) and propulsion capability for fine pointing and in-orbit maneuvering, will expand Astrocast’s global IoT constellation.

SHARJA-SAT-1 and TAUSAT-2, from the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences (SAASST) and Tel Aviv University (TAU), launched under a contract with ISIS Space.

• Sharjah-Sat-1 is SAASST’s first CubeSat mission, developed with ITU-SSDTL and Sabanci University. Its main payload is an enhanced X-ray detector (iXRD) designed to observe hard X-ray sources. The secondary payload is a dual-camera Earth-imaging system.

• TAUSAT-2 is a CubeSat based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. It carries a scientific payload of light-emitting diodes for an optical tracking experiment conducted by TAU, and includes an S-band transmitter demonstrating a new communication protocol.

Kelpie-1, a 3U CubeSat developed by AAC Clyde Space. It will provide AIS Automatic Identification System data exclusively to ORBCOMM and its governmental and commercial customers. Based on the EPIC 3U platform, the satellite carries a 4-kg payload with a low-noise proprietary bus architecture, a multi-channel SDR payload, and an advanced antenna concept developed by Oxford Space Systems to maximize AIS detection across message types.

The mission also includes in-orbit demonstrations of third-party payloads:

DRAGO-2, a compact SWIR camera developed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) for Earth observation. It is the successor to DRAGO-1, launched as part of ION SCV002 in 2021. DRAGO-2 can capture high-quality multispectral images in the short-wave infrared and has an onboard processing unit capable of compressing, encrypting, and applying advanced algorithms—including super-resolution—to acquired imagery.

Genergo-2, a new type of space propulsion system developed by Genergo to test technical specifications that will support future developments. Modeling and test definition were carried out in collaboration with the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology of Politecnico di Milano.

Cryptosat-2, an enhanced version of a nanosatellite prototype developed by Cryptosat for secure cryptographic applications, such as electronic voting, reliable random-beacon generation, and verifiable delay functions for smart contracts.

Second Star to the Right is the first ION mission of 2023. D-Orbit launched its first ION in September 2020 aboard an Arianespace VEGA rocket, followed by five additional missions on SpaceX Transporter launches. With this mission, the company will have transported more than 90 payloads to space.

(Below: images of the ION Satellite Carrier)