Katie Roof’s Post

Today’s interview is with Meagan Murphy Crawford, MBA, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at SpaceFund, which has invested in over 20 aerospace companies including SpaceX, Axiom Space, and Voyager Space. We discuss: - Why you should create your own path when the one you want doesn’t exist - Her investment matrix: TTT - How she handles being on the board of eight companies and how those meetings should be run - The number one piece of advice for founders Full interview below! #executive #advice #entrepreneur #investor #space #aerospace #theexecutive #venturecapital

$12m to keep satellites safe in orbit Venture capital firms have led a $12 million investment round for a Sydney company which provides onboard camera technology to monitor the environment around satellites. Read more about this, and much more about venture capital and private equity, at: https://lnkd.in/gE-aPUTb #venturecapital #privateequity #spacetech

Congrats to the Skykraft team on raising further capital to refuel their celestial tanks, as they work towards the rollout of their global satellite constellation.   Lennoxgrove Capital is proud to have acted as Equity Arranger for Skykraft, bringing together a group of experienced investors who will be strong partners as Skykraft builds what will be an Essential Infrastructure Asset in space.   The investors will provide over $100 million to support the rollout of Skykraft’s initial operational capability. Skykraft was able to raise capital from a diverse group of investors:   1.    Foresight (formerly Infrastructure Capital Group) – an Infrastructure Fund 2.    OPTrust – a Pension Fund 3.    Main Sequence – a DeepTech Venture Capital Fund 4.    Family Offices   Skykraft’s ability to attract capital from ALL four sources in the ONE round is quite a feat, which was made possible by Skykraft’s compelling business strategy based on strong economic fundamentals.   Skykraft has managed to accomplish this fundraising against a backdrop of very challenging private capital market conditions (current investment is 55% below 2022 levels and 70% below 2021 levels) and the general “risk-off” sentiment of many investors.   A prior funding round included investors such as Adcock Private Equity and a number of former senior Macquarie Group executives (including Allan Moss and James Kruger).   Skykraft’s smallsat constellation will be a world-first and truly global commercial Air Traffic Management capability from space, for both Surveillance and VHF Communication services.   Skykraft’s solution will allow aircraft to travel on more efficient flight paths, which translates into both significant environmental benefits and reduced fuel costs for airlines.   Lennoxgrove is proud to be an early investor in Skykraft. Lennoxgrove has assisted Skykraft over the last 3 years with both the current and past capital raisings, and with important commercial negotiations.   Well done to Skykraft's founders Craig Benson and Douglas Griffin, Chairman Mark Skidmore and CEO Michael Frater. We look forward to continuing to work with the Skykraft team as they deploy their global constellation.   A special thanks to Skykraft’s legal advisors on the capital raise: Paul Miller and Antony Bull of Deutsch Miller, who were able to (in what appeared to be an effortless way) bring together all parties’ desiderata.   See attached article from The Australian Financial Review:   https://lnkd.in/gccJYZjG

𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐂 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 In the past decade, 1,779 firms worldwide have received investments totaling $286 billion from private equity, according to data from Space Capital. Read More: https://bityl.co/PvN0 #success #spacemission #SpaceSuccess #vcfund #vcfunding #SpaceStartups #startupfunding #fundingnews #investment #investingnews

Today’s interview is with Justus Kilian, Managing Partner at Space Capital, a venture firm focused on the intersection of Tech and Space. With over $100M in assets under management, Space Capital has partnered with some of the most visionary founders and made investments in SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and Ursa Major. We discuss - - How to build a culture of excellence with an ownership mentality - Why Elon Musk famously interviewed the first 1,000 employees at Tesla - How to find your Dream Mentor - Why curiosity and patience was the cornerstone of his success Full episode below! #venturecapital #aerospace #tech #founders #space #spaceeconomy #theexecutive

We at Space Ambition continue our series of interviews with SpaceTech VCs. Today, I'd like to share the story of Jonathan Lacoste who is the General Partner at Space.VC. I liked his attitude about the reasons to switch from software entrepreneurship to SpaceTech investment. It was also curious to learn about his investment focus. I hope you will find the article interesting. https://bit.ly/47Ux3eK

🚀 SPiN Secures €1.63M Seed Funding for Space Manufacturing Revolution! We are thrilled to announce the successful closure of a seed funding round led by Galaxia | Polo Nazionale di Trasferimento Tecnologico dell'Aerospazio, the Italian Technology Transfer Hub on Aerospace powered by CDP Venture Capital SGR, together with Obloo Ventures, with participation from Scientifica Venture Capital and Innova Venture, the Venture Capital fund of Regione Lazio. 🌍 SPiN is committed to democratizing access to space through MA61C, its cutting-edge technology. MA61C is a universal plug-and-play adapter that seamlessly integrates satellite components off the shelf, simplifies the design process, and reduces costs for spacecraft manufacturers by 50%. 💡 The funds will fuel R&D expansion, commercial exploration, and further hardware qualification. 🔝 Future Growth: SPiN is hiring talent in Italy and European subsidiaries: https://lnkd.in/dig-ZAc7 🔗 Learn More: https://lnkd.in/d7d97SXK Looking forward to the next chapter! #SpaceTech #SeedFunding #Innovation #SPiN #spacetechnology #startup #growingtogether #aerospace #aerospaceengineering #aerospaceindustry #space #manufacturing #spaceinnovation #spaceeconomy

SSIT Portfolio developments in Q3 2024 🚀 🛰 ICEYE (20.2% of NAV) ranked #30 in the "Financial Times 1,000" ranking of Europe's fastest-growing companies. The company continued expanding its SAR constellation by launching three additional satellites in March. ☄ D-Orbit (14.8% of NAV) closed a €100m equity financing round to support international expansion, increased manufacturing, and expanded product line. 🌌 HawkEye 360 (9.5% of NAV) closed a $40m venture debt facility with Silicon Valley Bank, raising the company's total capital to over $400m. The company also successfully launched its two further satellite clusters bringing its total constellation to 29 satellites. 📡 LeoLabs (5.8% of NAV) appointed Tony Frazier as its new CEO. He previously led a $1bn+ business unit at Maxar Technologies and worked with customers across the US government and over 60 international customers. ☁ Tomorrow.io (1.8% of NAV) released the first radar data from its recently launched pathfinder satellites, confirming unprecedented accuracy. Read the full results here - https://lnkd.in/dwr-sFPU

Auriga Space has received $5 million in funding. Founded by Winnie Lai in 2022, Auriga aims to redefine space launches using electromagnetic technology. Here's why this development is a game-changer: Financial Milestone: Securing $5 million for prototyping and expanding their Los Angeles facility is a significant vote of confidence in their vision. Expertise on Board: With industry veterans like Blake Scholl of Boom Supersonic and Ashley Fieglein Johnson, Planet’s COO/CFO, as advisors, Auriga is equipped with unparalleled expertise. Institutional Backing: Receiving support from investors such as Trucks Venture Capital, Seraphim Space, Possible Ventures, and Syndicate 708, is a testament to Auriga's potential to reshape the space industry. Sustainability: Traditional rocket launches can harm our atmosphere. However, by powering the launch with electricity, Auriga minimizes environmental impact, a move toward a more sustainable future.

« NATO’s new €1bn venture fund is investing in Munich rocket microlauncher start-up Isar Aerospace as the alliance’s European member states seek to harness private sector space capabilities for security needs. The NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), backed by 24 countries excluding the #US, #Canada and #France, has joined several other new investors in a £220mn series C fundraising that values Isar at roughly $1bn, according to people close to the company. The company is raising the funds to build a bigger, fully automated factory near Munich, where it intends to produce at least 40 of its Spectrum rockets a year by the end of the decade, according to co-founder and chief executive Daniel Metzler. This is more than was planned just over a year ago at the start of its fundraising. Military interest in space has accelerated since #Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine. Defence spending in the space domain last year surpassed investment in civil programmes for the first time, according to Novaspace (Merger of Euroconsult & SpaceTec Partners), a market analytics group. Some 107 defence and dual-use satellites were launched in 2023 by 17 governments, Novaspace reported, up 40% on 2022. Isar’s microlauncher will fly small and medium-sized satellites into space, with a total capacity to carry 1,000kg into low earth orbit [#LEO]. » NB: NIF is a standalone venture capital fund, leading investment rounds, serving on boards, and providing equity funding.