VENTURE CAPITAL AVAILABLE FOR SPACE-BASED COMPANIES

The Seraphim Space Fund of venture capital, currently worth £50 million, is set to boost European small, medium and start-up companies developing space-based applications, services and technologies.

The fund offers a springboard for all space technology, emerging products, applications and associated services that have been developed with ESA’s help.

This includes software, hardware and integrated solutions for companies that use satellite data for a wide range of applications such as intelligent transport and smart cities, through to sectors including insurance, maritime, agriculture and oil and gas.

The fund fits well with projects that have originated under ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme, but is also open to all developments that have been supported by ESA, including ESA-incubated companies.

Seraphim fills the funding gap that often exists when a space company or start-up first enters the market and can provide expertise and access to customers, if required.

The fund is targeting a final value of about £80 million during the second quarter of 2017 but has already opened for business and is ready to make investments.

ESA’s Senior Advisor to the Directorate of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, Amnon Ginati, who sits on the Seraphim Advisory Board, commented, “ESA’s cooperation with Seraphim Capital offers space companies, start-ups and ESA-incubated companies a new conduit to funding beyond ESA.

“The Seraphim fund tops a long list of private investors who have already committed more than €55 million in commercially promising companies and projects arising out of ESA programmes.

“ESA makes no financial contribution to the Seraphim fund. ESA’s role is to recommend suitable candidates and act as a facilitator, and these efforts are paid for by the fund.”

Mark Boggett, Managing Director at Seraphim Capital, added: “Low-cost access to space will come to define the decade ahead. We look forward to working closely with ESA and providing the next step of financing to a range of innovative businesses developed through their various programmes.”

Seraphim Capital is managed by a team of fund partners, with decades of experience investing in early stage technology businesses. The new fund focuses on space tech and the broader ‘space enabling’ ecosystem.

The space industry is undergoing unprecedented technological change and the fund’s corporate venture structure will enable investors, including large space companies, to gain insight into the next wave of emerging technologies, helping them to innovate faster and ultimately bring more value to their customers.

More information about Seraphim Capital can be found at http://seraphimcapital.co.uk/

ARTES transforms research and development investment into space technology, systems, commercial products and services that benefit our daily lives. ARTES Applications can be found at: artes-apps.esa.int, while ARTES technology and products may be found at: artes.esa.int.

About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, of which 20 are Member States of the EU.

ESA has established formal cooperation with seven other Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes.

ESA develops the launchers, spacecraft and ground facilities needed to keep Europe at the forefront of global space activities.

Today, it develops and launches satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and astronomy, sends probes to the far reaches of the Solar System and cooperates in the human exploration of space.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int