Led · Equity · Feb 2022

Xplore offers Space as a Service®, providing data as a service, sensors as a service and satellites as a service to collect data from space for commercial, intelligence and climate customers. The company is accelerating hardware development of the Xcraft satellite data-collection platform at its 22,000 sq ft satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond. Leadership includes CEO Jeff Rich and Founder/COO Lisa Rich. Xplore plans to use new funding to accelerate growth, expand operations, hire additional team members and advance product development. In the past 24 months the company has received approximately $4M in non-dilutive funding and was selected for a $2M contract from the Pentagon’s National Security Innovation Capital. It has completed milestones on contracts from the U.S. Air Force, NOAA and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has multiple flight programs in progress. Xplore provides Space as a Service via its Xcraft and LightCraft multi-mission platforms, offering hosted payloads, communications relay services and exclusive datasets. Its Xcraft ESPA-class platform is designed for LEO, cislunar space and destinations including Venus, Mars and asteroids. The company plans an Xcraft LEO (XLEO) mission in 2023 and is developing a family of Xplore Space Telescopes (XST) with missions planned in LEO and cislunar regions. Xplore has a Memorandum of Understanding with Accion Systems to host the TILE ion thruster on XLEO and has collaborated with W. M. Keck Observatory to accelerate XST timelines. Financially, Xplore announced a $2M contract award from National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) within the Defense Innovation Unit to accelerate Xcraft development. The company operates from a 22,000 square foot campus in Redmond, Wash., and is recruiting space professionals for its flight programs.

Participated · Seed · May 2021

Cosmic Shielding is an Atlanta-based space technology company whose technologies aim to enable the use of high-performance electronics in orbit and to support safe travel for astronauts. The articles refer to the company as Cosmic Shielding Corporation and describe its goal of enabling a long-term human presence on the moon and beyond. The company closed a $1 million pre-seed capital raise. The round was led by SpaceFund with participation from WorldQuant Ventures, Helios Capital, Starbridge Venture Capital, Batshit Crazy Ventures, and Space.VC. The financing is described as a pre-seed capital raise; the articles do not detail other instrument types or operating metrics.

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.