Participated · Series A · May 2023

Hydrosat operates a thermal-infrared satellite constellation combined with AI and machine-learning analytics to provide daily, field-scale “thermal intelligence.” With two satellites already in orbit, the company collects more than 10 million km² of imagery per day—an order-of-magnitude increase over existing commercial alternatives. Its data are used to monitor water consumption, optimize irrigation, detect vegetation stress, and generate temperature-based signals for defense and intelligence customers, even at night. Hydrosat’s platform currently oversees millions of hectares for clients such as NOAA, the National Reconnaissance Office, Bayer, SupPlant and Nutradrip. The firm plans to expand its presence in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, India and Latin America while building a larger next-generation satellite fleet and broadening its crop and water-management solutions. The newly raised capital strengthens its balance sheet and supports this global expansion strategy.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2022

Firehawk Aerospace, founded in 2020, designs and manufactures solid rocket motors, base bleed motors, hybrid rocket engines, and 3D-printed propellant. The company emphasizes additive manufacturing and digital process control to transform energetics production and reduce fragility in supply chains. It has developed a robust patent portfolio and has demonstrated credibility with leading aerospace and defense stakeholders, including a successful GMLRS-class rocket flight test under an Army SBIR Phase III with the Army Applications Laboratory. Firehawk aims to scale production throughput and manufacturing infrastructure to meet growing Department of War and prime contractor demand for domestic munitions capacity. The company positions itself as a reliable domestic supplier within the U.S. defense industrial base and is pursuing expanded delivery timelines and increased production at scale.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2021

Umbra invented the world's only microsatellite that can see through clouds and at night in high resolution (<25 cm GSD), and it has agreements to deliver data to U.S. government and commercial geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) firms. The company’s spacecraft use a patented deployable antenna supporting 1200 MHz bandwidth radar, enabling long-range collection and the ability to resolve objects smaller than 25 centimeters. Umbra says this capability allows a single satellite to outperform existing or planned satellite architectures. The company plans to manufacture spacecraft and begin launching satellites for its commercial missions this year, and it will sell 25-centimeter imagery commercially under an issued NOAA license. Umbra is expanding its team to approximately 45 people with openings in engineering, product, software, operations, and marketing across its Santa Barbara and new Austin, TX facilities. The company will use the new capital together with revenue to support customer needs such as free tasking, pilot programs, direct satellite access, and analytics partnerships to create commercial Earth observation products.

Participated · Series B · Feb 2021

Axiom Space is building commercial orbital infrastructure, with headline programs that include a commercial space station and development of lunar spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration campaign. The company is pursuing a broader roadmap of space infrastructure and technology advancement and has positioned itself to define the next era of the space economy. Financially, Axiom recently closed an expanded funding round that grew to more than $525 million after an opportunistic extension that brought in new and existing investors. The company said the funds will be used to support its space station and spacesuit efforts as well as other roadmap priorities. Axiom has publicly welcomed NASA’s decision to continue the Commercial LEO Destinations program under its established approach, which it says aligns with its commercial station plans.

Participated · Seed · Jan 2020

New Age Meats develops meat from animal cells, starting with a variety of pork sausages as its first product offering. The company plans to begin production of those sausages next year and expects to go to market in 2022 pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. The $25 million Series A will fund doubling the workforce, expanding R&D and building a 20,000-square-foot pilot manufacturing facility in Alameda. New Age Meats says it will eventually move into other meat categories such as beef and chicken and sees demand from pork-consuming markets like Asia. CEO Brian Spears, a chemical engineer who co-founded the company in 2018 after 12 years developing research laboratory and industry automation, said the firm aims to deliver scalable, affordable and authentic meat experiences. The company is positioning itself amid growing interest and venture investment in cultured meat. New Age Meats develops cultivated pork products with an initial focus on bringing a cultivated pork sausage to market. The company is building a pilot facility and working to scale product development and production. Management plans to expand its Food Science department and implement more automation and robotics. The startup aims to continue driving down the cost of its first product. New Age Meats was founded in 2018 and is based in Berkeley, Calif. Current financing described in the article is a $2M seed extension to support these operating and development goals. New Age Meats is a Berkeley-based cultivated meat company founded in 2018 by CEO Brian Spears. The company develops technology to make meat from animal cells rather than animal slaughter, applying automation and data science to stem cell research and bioreactor optimization. It is a graduate of IndieBio's accelerator program. New Age Meats closed a $2.7M seed funding round to support its operations. The company intends to use the funds to grow the team, invest in automation equipment, and iterate its cultivators. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article. New Age Meats is a US-based, only a few months old startup focused on research and development of cultured meat (clean meat). The company is a member of IndieBio’s Accelerator Program and has been granted $250,000 in financial capital. Its core product development includes laboratory-grown "Farm-Free" pork sausages made from pig cells. The startup invited a small group to taste-test three types of its lab-grown sausage; Business Insider reporter Erin Brodwin wrote, "It tasted like meat. On the other hand, it is meat. The texture was clearly sausage-like." New Age Meats aims to counter traditional animal agriculture with innovative, slaughter-free cultivated products. Other companies mentioned in the same field include Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms and Just.