Space Capital launches second institutional fund to continue investing at the intersection of space and tech

Space Capital, a seed stage venture capital firm investing across the space economy, is pleased to announce the launch of Space Capital II, our second institutional fund. We are now actively investing out of our third fund and manage over $60 million in assets. Our focus enables us to be a true partner to our portfolio companies and unlock value far in excess of financial investment.

Our thesis recognizes that space-based technologies are the building blocks of innovation and impact nearly every major industry. As the greatest space technology success story, GPS has generated trillions of dollars in economic value and some of the largest venture outcomes. As outlined in The GPS Playbook, published with Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year, we believe that GPS provides us with a playbook for how space-based technologies will create new investment opportunities and that Geospatial Intelligence and satellite Communications have similar growth potential to GPS. We’re investing to unlock that value.

In Q3, we continued to leverage that framework to better understand capital flows across the space economy: we now know that there has been $166B of private equity investment into 1,128 unique space companies over the last 10 years. Importantly, our data shows that the space economy has remained remarkably strong despite the pandemic, as we discussed with CNBC in October.

Our initial SPV fund, launched in 2015, was focused on the Infrastructure layer of the space technology stack and removing barriers to entry in what was then a nascent market. Space Capital I, our first institutional fund launched in 2017, focused on the Distribution layer and bringing supply to demand. Space Capital II, our latest institutional fund, will focused on the Applications of space technology, specifically on unlocking the value in space technology stacks such as GPS, Geospatial Intelligence, and Communications.

Building upon insights from The GPS Playbook, we plan to deploy Space Capital II in the following thematic areas:

• Geospatial Intelligence
  Applications:
  - AgTech
  - InsurTech
  - ClimateTech
  Distribution:
  - Synthetic Data
• GPS (precise/micro positioning)
  Applications:
  - Sensor fusion
  - AR
  - AdTech
  - Mobility
  - Autonomous Systems
  Distribution:
  - Next-generation mapping infrastructure
  - Precision navigation
• Communications
  Applications:
  - IoT
  - Logistics
  Distribution:
  - 5G
  - Cybersecurity

To further stimulate growth in these areas we’ve launched Space Talent, a free career platform and central resources hub built for the global ecosystem of companies at the intersection of space and tech. With over 9,000 jobs and 550 companies across 50 countries, Space Talent matches credible employers with top talent while providing insights into an ever-expanding range of opportunities. The platform also helps founders experiment, build, and finance new businesses by providing resources and the opportunity to receive up to $1.5M in funding from Space Capital and our affiliates.

Despite the pandemic, growth across the space economy continues to accelerate. As the global economy embraces remote operations, the most innovative companies are leveraging space technology to create a competitive edge (in Q3 Microsoft unveiled Azure Orbital, competing with Amazon to connect satellites to the cloud). In times of uncertainty, business leaders are hungry for insights and information, which is exactly the type of data that space companies provide. In fact, many of our portfolio companies have seen an increase in demand for their products and services due to the current economic environment and we expect the space economy to play an increasingly important role in the post-COVID world.