The Venture Codex

Led · Equity · Oct 2018

Moon Express develops commercial lunar landers for government and commercial customers. The company said it raised $12.5 million comprised of a $2.5M bridge and $10M of a planned $20M Series B to advance spacecraft development. Funds will support redevelopment of Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral, which Moon Express is leasing as a spacecraft development and test center, and allow ordering of long‑lead flight hardware and building of a maiden spacecraft. Management said July 2020 is a reasonable goal for the first mission. The company previously booked launches on Rocket Lab’s Electron for its Google Lunar X Prize entry but may use a larger rocket to meet customer requirements. The raise comes amid NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services solicitation and follows a legal dispute that produced a $4.1M verdict that is currently frozen pending further court action. Moon Express develops the MX-1E lunar spacecraft to compete for the Google Lunar X‑Prize. In July 2016 it became the first private company to receive permission to travel to the Moon and plans to launch MX-1E at the end of 2017. The MX-1E will be delivered to Earth orbit by Rocket Lab USA's Electron rocket, then separate and fire its own engines for a roughly four-day journey and soft‑landing, followed by a 500‑meter "hop" using thrusters to meet X‑Prize movement requirements. Moon Express has contracted five Electron launches, providing multiple attempts if needed. The company has raised over $45 million in private investment, including a $20 million Series B-1 from individuals and venture funds such as Founders Fund, Collaborative Fund, and Autodesk, and will use the funding for operations, testing, development, and launch costs. Longer-term the company plans a series of robotic lunar missions aimed at prospecting and harvesting resources like lunar water for conversion into rocket fuel, and it is renovating Space Launch Complexes 17 and 18 at Cape Canaveral for testing and operations.

Led · Equity · Jan 2012

Target Brazil is a Barreto, Brazil-based supplier of bovine byproducts to Asian markets. The company sells ox gallstones and concentrated ox bile used as pharmaceutical raw materials for medicines addressing obesity, digestive and metabolic problems, and cardiac/circulatory conditions. It is led by CEO and founder Jose L. Valim and managing director Paulo H. Valim. The company plans to strengthen and deepen its marketing efforts in Asia following the investment. To support that expansion Target Brazil is evaluating locations in Shanghai or Hong Kong and expects to launch an office by the third quarter of 2012. Financially, the company received a $6M equity investment from Minerva Opportunity Fund I, LP, which acquired an 18.75% stake.