Tech incubator Moonshot has raised its first investment fund for space startups and opened applications for its next investment accelerator in early 2021.
Moonshot is a specialist incubator space startups launched in 2017 for deep tech ventures working in areas such as satellites, launch facilities, robotics, semiconductors, energy generation, or aggregation platforms for environmental data.
In March, Moonshot will invest up to $200,000 into five startups for its next accelerator.
Troy McCann with Amir Blachman, Vice President of Strategic Development for Axiom Space.
Current investors include local heavy-hitters such as Flavia Tata Nardini of Fleet Space and Adam Gilmour of Gilmour Space, as well as international space leaders including Amir Blachman, Chief Business Officer of Axiom Space, and Dr Andrew Aldrin, CEO of the Aldrin Space Institute in Florida
While this is Moonshot’s first investment fund, the venture has already invested $300,000 in four successful startups via a partnership with the 2018 Startmate accelerator, including long distance drone venture Swoop Aero and JigSpace, which saw its augmented reality app star in the latest Apple iPhone release.
Moonshot founder and CEO Troy McCann said that while many see space as a long way away, space technology is at the core of every industry already, with commercial space businesses now launching satellites into orbit for less than the cost of an investment property.
“We support startups that use frontier locations because they’re often misunderstood and seen as too risky by everyone else, but that’s often not the case and they can have incredible impacts on our world,” he said.
“These startups are helping us address climate change, grow food in usually inhospitable areas, and even develop new kinds of medicines that can’t be manufactured on Earth because our gravity affects the chemical reactions.
“Just like the most valuable companies today are those that built the infrastructure that the international economy runs on, today’s space tech businesses are creating the infrastructure that the international economy will run on tomorrow. Outer space is the new cyberspace.”
Dr Megan Clark, head of the Australian Space Agency congratulated Moonshoot on the launch of the new fund.
“A strong ecosystem of early-stage venture capital will be an important enabler to transform and grow Australia’s space industry,” she said.
Dr Andrew Aldrin said you needed more than just a great technical idea or a keen business sense to be successful in the space sector.
Moonshot brings together the diverse combination required to be successful in this challenging business,” he said.
Expressions of interest for the Moonshot accelerator are now open here, with McCann saying more information on the will be available in the coming week.
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