--- title: "Apex, valued at $2.3 billion in June, now sells factories; Elveo Mobile is the first to sign" description: "The satellite bus maker that raised $200 million at a $2.3 billion valuation in June is now selling dedicated production facilities to Elveo Mobile, the D2C challenger ABI Research crowned the sector's innovation leader on October 8." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Deals" published: 2026-10-09T21:01:28.683Z modified: 2026-10-09T21:01:28.683Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/apex-valued-at-2-3-billion-in-june-now-sells-factories-elveo-mobile-is-the-first-to-sign language: en keywords: "Satellites, Space, Manufacturing, Deals" --- # Apex, valued at $2.3 billion in June, now sells factories; Elveo Mobile is the first to sign > The satellite bus maker that raised $200 million at a $2.3 billion valuation in June is now selling dedicated production facilities to Elveo Mobile, the D2C challenger ABI Research crowned the sector's innovation leader on October 8. Apex, the Los Angeles satellite bus maker that [raised $200 million at a $2.3 billion valuation in June](https://www.apexspace.com/news) [1], has quietly added a second product line: factories. On September 14, Elveo Mobile, the direct-to-device challenger formed from the Lynk and Omnispace merger with SES backing, [announced a partnership to stand up a dedicated spacecraft factory in the US using Apex's "Factory X" model](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/elveo-mobile-announces-partnership-apex-060100948.html), then replicate it in Europe and Asia with regional partners [2]. Weeks later, on October 8, [ABI Research named Elveo the innovation leader in its D2C satellite service provider ranking](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/starlink-skylo-technologies-named-leaders-130000561.html) and cited that manufacturing deal as part of the case [3]. ![Apex and Elveo logos over a cleanroom view of spacecraft platforms in production](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/0c6d937b661e68cf.png) *The September 14 partnership makes Elveo Mobile the first signer for Apex's Factory X model: a dedicated US facility, then replicas in Europe and Asia with regional partners. (Courtesy of Apex Space)* ## The scale gap is the whole story The ranking shows why Elveo needs a factory. Starlink, the leader, fields hundreds of direct-to-cell satellites and more than 150 ground stations, and ABI estimates Starlink Mobile generated $276 million in end-user connection revenue in 2025 [3]. Skylo ranks second on commercial footprint and live services. Elveo's assets are different in kind: 50-plus MNO partners, 60 MHz of priority MSS spectrum and a multi-waveform reconfigurable architecture, not a fleet in orbit [3]. ABI analyst Rachel Kong calls Elveo "the dark horse" in the ecosystem [3]. On Apex's pitch, owning production closes that hardware gap faster than waiting on traditional bus supplier timelines: "By partnering to stand up a dedicated production facility, we're leveraging Apex's deep expertise in mass manufacturing spacecraft platforms to deploy Elveo's constellation years ahead of traditional bus supplier timelines," said Apex co-founder and CEO Ian Cinnamon [2]. *Chart: **Starlink books $276M; Elveo's answer is partners, spectrum and a factory** Bars chart: Starlink Mobile's 2025 D2C connection revenue of $276M next to Elveo's counter-assets, 50-plus MNO partners, 60 MHz of priority MSS spectrum, and Apex Factory One's 200-plus buses per year capacity.* *Bar values are the raw figures; units differ and are shown on each bar. Starlink revenue is ABI Research's estimate; the other three are company or analyst counts [3][4]. [3][4]* ## Factory X turns Apex from bus vendor to production platform For Apex, the deal converts its June raise into booked, constellation-scale production and adds a revenue line no traditional supplier offers: factory-as-a-service, where Apex equips a customer to operate its own production facility, on top of the platform sales the company already books. "This partnership not only puts us in control of our own development destiny and cost structure but also allows us to create high-tech economic opportunities internationally," said Elveo CEO Ramu Potarazu [2]. Elveo plans to use the US blueprint to expand manufacturing into Europe and Asia with regional partners, replicating the model rather than renting Apex's floor [2]. Apex's [own site puts Factory One in Los Angeles at over 200 buses per year of peak capacity](https://www.apexspace.com/) on a 130,000-square-foot floor [4], and the company has raised more than $500 million in total [per its own job postings](https://jobspring.pro/job/j12841485/propulsion-machinist-apex-technology/) [5]. The figure to watch: whether Factory One actually sustains 200 buses per year with Elveo work in the queue. ## Consolidation makes independent production newly valuable The timing is not accidental. ABI notes a consolidation wave, including [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon)'s acquisition of Globalstar and Rocket Lab's acquisition of Iridium, reshaping the field into 2027, and expects mergers and spectrum deals to continue [3]. Every independent constellation that survives that wave needs production capacity it controls, and Apex is positioning to sell it. The unprovable part, stated plainly: neither company discloses the contract's value or margins, so the investor case rests on throughput and marquee customers, not booked revenue. ## Takeaway Apex's factory-as-a-service deal turns its June raise into booked production for Elveo Mobile, but with no disclosed value the case rests on whether Factory One sustains 200 buses a year. ## Sources 1. [Apex Newsroom, "Apex Announces Additional Fundraising at $2.3B Valuation", 5 June 2026](https://www.apexspace.com/news) 2. [PR Newswire via Yahoo Finance, "Elveo Mobile Announces Partnership with Apex to Establish and Scale Spacecraft Platform Production for Global D2D Network", 14 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/elveo-mobile-announces-partnership-apex-060100948.html) 3. [ABI Research via Yahoo Finance, "Starlink and Skylo Technologies Named Leaders in ABI Research's D2C Satellite Service Providers Competitive Ranking", 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/starlink-skylo-technologies-named-leaders-130000561.html) 4. [Apex, "The Spacecraft Platform Company" (apexspace.com), accessed 9 October 2026](https://www.apexspace.com/) 5. [JobSpring, "Propulsion Machinist at Apex Technology" listing, collected 3 October 2026](https://jobspring.pro/job/j12841485/propulsion-machinist-apex-technology/) --- Apex, valued at $2.3 billion in June, now sells factories; Elveo Mobile is the first to sign — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/apex-valued-at-2-3-billion-in-june-now-sells-factories-elveo-mobile-is-the-first-to-sign