World View Expands into Indo-Pacific with $25 Million Investment

World View, a global leader in stratospheric exploration and flight, has announced the closing of a strategic $25 million investment from Breakthrough Victoria, an investment company established by the Victorian government to provide long-term capital to innovation businesses and projects that will improve people’s lives and benefit Victoria’s economy.

The strategic investment from Breakthrough Victoria will enable World View to establish a regional Indo-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne. The Indo-Pacific business will operate as World View Indo-Pacific, a wholly owned subsidiary that will allow World View to pursue new customers and access new markets while benefitting from local talent, technology and capital.

The company plans to establish an advanced manufacturing facility in Victoria, creating up to 200 high-tech, high-value jobs in engineering, manufacturing, flight services and support, mission control, data and material sciences, and analytics.

“Australia, especially Victoria, offers access to incredibly skilled talent, cutting-edge technology, promising partnerships, smart capital and significant geographic leverage to support our Indo-Pacific remote sensing and future space tourism operations, while also contributing to our established business in the United States,” said Ryan M. Hartman, World View president and CEO. “We are eager to get to work in Victoria.”

World View Indo-Pacific has established a stratospheric center of excellence at Melbourne Connect, a leading innovation hub in partnership with The University of Melbourne. This strategic partnership will facilitate stratospheric research and development at universities and research institutions across all Australian states and territories, and eventually into the wider Indo-Pacific region. 

Additionally, this stratospheric center of excellence will identify and partner with small- and medium-sized Australian enterprises to develop technology and talent in support of World View’s global supply chain, playing a key role in World View’s international growth.

“We are thrilled to partner with World View in their mission to transform the way we approach the development of the stratospheric economy. World View’s innovative solutions have the potential to revolutionize various industries, from remote sensing to communications,” said Grant Dooley, CEO of Breakthrough Victoria.

World View Indo-Pacific’s office at Melbourne Connect opened in April 2024 and will also serve as the interim headquarters while the company finalizes its plans to construct an advanced manufacturing facility in Victoria.

This investment is part of World View’s recently announced multi-close strategic Series D funding round, led by SNC, that saw participation from both new and existing investors. The breadth and depth of participation in this round demonstrates continued confidence in World View’s pioneering work in high-altitude, stratospheric flight technologies and systems.