Looking Back at Seraphim Space Camp: Mission 2
As we fast approach Investor Day on 20th November at Inmarsat HQ, we thought we would look back over the past 9 weeks and take stock of just how far our start-ups have come and call attention to some outstanding moments from the programme.
We had the pleasure of being joined by some serious heavyweights in both the Space and Tech industries during the programme, some highlights being:
Candace Johnson
“Never before has there been such a need to have connectivity, interconnectivity and interactivity in the world and in the universe”
A global infrastructure, network and innovation expert and serial entrepreneur; Candace co-initiated SES Global, the world’s pre-eminent satellite group, along with many other successful ventures. In October, Candace visited us to talk about all the opportunities in this “Golden Era of Space”. She shared war stories from her remarkable career and worked closely with our start-ups to help solve their most complex challenges.
Matt O’Connell
“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline”
In November, our start-ups were given a window into the business philosophy of Seraphim Capital’s very own Matt O’Connell; widely recognised as a leading authority on the commercialisation of geospatial data, having spent 12 years as CEO of GeoEye (acquired by Digital Globe for $1.3bn). Starting when he became CEO at GeoEye (and lived in a Dulles Airport Holiday Inn for three years), Matt has taken notes on business that has become known as “Matt’s Management Mottos”. Particular nuggets of wisdom include, “Always listen first and speak last”, “stop selling what you have, sell what they need” and “there’s no such thing as a wrong note in jazz, it is what you play next that counts”.
Rafferty Jackson
“What deep in your bones motivates and drives you to keep going in life in spite of obstacles and setbacks?”
A new addition to the Space Camp programme, Rafferty led the legal, strategy and human resources functions at Beats by Dr. Dre. Having been an integral part of the company which was sold alongside Beats Music to Apple for $3bn (Apple’s largest-ever acquisition), she was well placed to hold a workshop talking about storytelling and the power this can have on your proposition. Drawing on examples from Pixar to JFK and even Donald Trump, Rafferty highlighted how a strong storyline can not only provide coherence to your investors but loyalty from your employees.
Alongside some fantastic keynote seminars, the accelerator was fortunate enough to be invited to Airbus Defence and Space, the European Space Agency and the Satellite Applications Catapult to discover more about their activities with developing partnership opportunities with our start-ups.
We are incredibly proud of how far the start-ups have come since joining the programme. Below is a snapshot of what they have achieved in the last 9 weeks:
Ansur is working with a world-leading drone manufacturer and an emergency association to explore the use of UAV in mission-critical context. One pilot has been agreed in Chile & the UN have selected their ASIGN product as a tool for managing large-scale disasters in 80 countries.
Cystellar will be showcasing their geospatial intelligence software that delivers real-time insights at Lloyds of London on 22nd November.
Supply chain management company, Entopy, signed a contract with a Fortune 500 company. Earlier this month they also won an award for the ‘Most Innovative Cross Functional Solution’ for their work with RAS and Sainsbury, beating the likes of Panasonic and Tyco.
NuQuantum were runners-up in Cambridge Enterprise’s and the Entreprenurial Postdocs of Cambridge (EPOC) Postdoc Business Plan Competiton on 1st November, attracting a great deal of interest in their newly incorporated company.
KETS Quantum Security, the only company with a complete integrated on-chip quantum encryption solution, has successfully raised their seed round.
Lunasonde, one of our two Fellowship companies this year, has completed testing of its small satellites used to scan the globe and build an atlas of valuable underground resources. They have also begun a proof-of-concept project with one of our partners.
Quantum security company, Quantum Light Metrology (QLM), who are developing ultra-compact and precise quantum optical sensors to detect methane leaks, is preparing for the National Quantum Showcase on 9 November. On top of this, earlier this month they successfully closed their seed round.
Sofant, a company developing a new antenna technology, has recently secured significant funding from InnovateUK & ESA.
The Edinburgh-based launch company, Skyrora, continues to grow rapidly as they reach 120 people across Scotland and Ukraine. Skyrora’s Rocket is expected to be the first totally privately-owned vehicle to reach the edge of space from UK soil.
Vidrona, a precision predictive asset management company specialising in the energy industry, has renewed a contract with a major multinational conglomerate. They are also travelling to India as part of the UK delegate team.
After an intense 9 weeks, we look forward to hosting our Investor Day on 20 November at Inmarsat’s UK headquarters at Old Street roundabout. We are incredibly proud to have been able to bring on Inmarsat as our newest corporate sponsor for Mission 2, a partnership we believe will have great mutual benefit. Following on from her captivating talk on how to encourage innovation from within an organisation, Yasrine Ibnyahya, Principal Advanced Concepts, Inmarsat stated:
“We’re delighted to partner with the Space Camp accelerator and have been very impressed with the range and quality of the start-ups that the Seraphim Capital team has been able to select for this second iteration of the programme. The start-ups are addressing challenges that have a profound impact on a variety of industries, and we look forward to working with them to refine their propositions.”
We look forward to an action-packed day and are excited to see what opportunities await; both for the accelerator and the soon-to-be graduating start-ups themselves.
Read more about Seraphim Space Camp: our past and future mission companies, our latest news and our team here.
