• The value of a relative area producing 3D-printed rockets was $4.2 billion last year.
  • Fidelity’s massive Contrafund mutual fund cut its largest stake in the company by 21%.
  • Fidelity does not detract from the value of SpaceX, Relativity’s biggest competitor.

Fidelity, the mutual fund giant, has cut some of its stake in Relativity Space, a startup that produces 3D-printed rockets. SpaceX’s competitor was valued at $4.2 billion in its funding round last year.

Fidelity’s Contrafund Mutual Fund — a $110 billion fund that invests in a variety of private and public companies — reduced its ownership of Relativity’s Series D shares by nearly 21%, from $22.83 per share at the end of December to $17.96 in action at the end of March According to recent reports. The fund reduced the value of the smaller tranche of Series E shares it bought last year by a modest 7%.

Neither Fidelity nor Relativity has responded to requests for comment, so it’s not clear what caused the drop or why the stock’s value might differ, but it’s possible that Fidelity sold some of its stock. It’s rare for asset managers like Fidelity not to value one company’s shares equally, even when they’re from another fundraising series.

Relativity was founded in 2015 by Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, two young flight engineers who worked at Blue Origin and SpaceX respectively. Since then, it has raised $1.3 billion in funding from large corporations and private equity firms, including BlackRock, Coatue, General Catalyst, ICONIQ Capital and Tiger Global. In 2021, the startup raised $650 million In finance under the leadership of fidelity.

Latecomers such as Instacart and Stripe have seen a sharp drop in valuation this year as listed tech stocks plunge. Aerospace companies like Virgin Galactic have also been hit, with shares plunging more than 40% this year after it went public


Plumber

 in 2019.

Estimating the value of private companies is more difficult because most shareholders do not publicly disclose their valuation changes. Fidelity is a notable exception, and thus provides rare insight into how late-stage startups are ranked.

It’s worth nothing Fidelity hasn’t reduced its stake in Space X, backed by Elon Musk, relativism’s biggest rival.

Ellis, CEO, said the company is still on the right track to finish it His inaugural show earlier this year, Terran 1 rocket from Relativity explodes into space. As he told Bloomberg earlier this year It is not concerned with SPAC.

“Some other plumbers tried when it was hot, but we were able to arrange private tours by good investors,” Ellis said. “We are focused on maintaining privacy for as long as possible and the availability of capital is high.”