{"id":68727,"date":"2017-03-07T19:34:50","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T11:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/finding-investment-opportunities-in-the-emerging-newspace-market\/"},"modified":"2017-03-07T19:34:50","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T11:34:50","slug":"finding-investment-opportunities-in-the-emerging-newspace-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/finding-investment-opportunities-in-the-emerging-newspace-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Investment Opportunities in the Emerging NewSpace Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you call it Space 2.0, NewSpace or just commercial space, the next era of innovation in space business has arrived. Carolyn Belle, senior analyst at Northern Sky Research, moderated an informative session titled \u201cEmerging Space and Satellite: Where to Invest Next?\u201d during which a panel of industry financial experts took a moment to discuss where they\u2019re looking for the biggest opportunities, what space companies need to do to attract investors\u2019 interest, and how to manage the risk that comes along with investing in an emerging market.<\/p>\n<p>According to Chris Quilty, president of Quilty Analytics, there are two factors really pushing NewSpace to the forefront of investors\u2019 consciousness. The first is government involvement in the space industry. \u201cSomewhere between 70 to 80 percent of revenue is generated from government-related activities. Governments are getting tight on budget and they\u2019re looking for smarter ways to do things, such as NASA\u2019s public-private partnerships,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are also seeing technology change on the satellite side. There\u2019s a barbell of activity: on one end you have High-Throughput Satellites (HTS) changing the cost of bits, and on the other end is the smallsat revolution which addresses launch availability and cost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/yAHHUPKfScyFwPFgzOle_ShowDaily17_Cover3_DGTL-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"width: 120px; height: auto;\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/yAHHUPKfScyFwPFgzOle_ShowDaily17_Cover3_DGTL-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/yAHHUPKfScyFwPFgzOle_ShowDaily17_Cover3_DGTL-800x599.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/yAHHUPKfScyFwPFgzOle_ShowDaily17_Cover3_DGTL-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/yAHHUPKfScyFwPFgzOle_ShowDaily17_Cover3_DGTL.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"fs-5 mt-0\">Explore the Show Daily 2017 Day 3 Issue<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-0 fs-smaller text-balance\">Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-primary\" type=\"button\" data-bs-toggle=\"offcanvas\" data-bs-target=\"#offcanvasMENU\" aria-controls=\"offcanvasExample\" aria-label=\"button\" style=\"white-space: nowrap;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tView More <i class=\"bi bi-arrow-right-circle\"><\/i><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>Quilty also pointed out that the industry may be in the midst of a bubble due the proliferation of companies in the commercial space. \u201cWe\u2019re sitting on the bow wave. A lot of companies got funded two to three years ago \u2026 Most of these constellations aren\u2019t in orbit, most of the launch vehicles have not yet launched \u2014 so rubber hits the road in the next couple of years,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to sort out the winners from the losers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Serafini, chief executive officer at Hawkeye 360, agreed that the industry has likely surpassed the \u201chype curve\u201d and the next challenge will be securing Series B and Series C funding.<\/p>\n<p>However, Mark Boggett, managing director at Seraphim Capital, warned that one of the issues holding back investments is the lack of exits that have occurred. \u201cRaising Series B and C rounds in Europe is difficult across any sector, and it becomes more acute in space-related markets because of the lack of examples of large exits. So it\u2019s going to be difficult for the first few, but as those companies mature they will make it easier for companies that come behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><script>var AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a6b335db01af;googletag.cmd.push(function(){var AIMAP_29b58f13885ebf8ea6b032f958eb0748 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([992, 100], [[970, 90], [970, 250]]).addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_737ce075cc05dd766c8f8ea08f3faa73 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([1200, 100], [970, 250]).addSize([768, 100], [600, 300]).addSize([320, 100], [300, 250]).build();AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a6b335db01af = googletag.defineSlot('\/987\/satellitetoday.com\/via-satellite-digital-issue-ads', [ [600, 300], [300, 250], [970, 250] ], 'div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a6b335db01b0').defineSizeMapping(AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());   });<\/script><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a6b335db01b0'); });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are two exits,\u201d Quilty added. \u201cEither the company you\u2019re funding is going to get acquired or the company is going to go public \u2026 You\u2019re not going to give Series B funding if there is no exit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Serafini highlighted one alternative way companies can pursue additional funding. \u201cThe market for raising Series A is fairly robust. So my focus for our Series B round is trying to break it up into smaller capital requirements,\u201d he said. So rather than going out and raising $75 million to build out a full constellation, Serafini hopes to move more incrementally, raising $15 or $20 million in stages while proving both that the market works and that there is consumer interest.<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Lewis, vice president and deputy director at In-Q-Tel CosmiQ Works, also explained that investors must grapple with the real financial requirements of a particular company, especially in the long term. \u201cNewSpace offers new products and services but it also offers cost innovation. This has been the mantra. At the most macro level that is the most exciting sales pitch to an investor,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the thing to consider is, what are the long term capital requirements for that company in terms of having to pay for launch? If systems fail, how long it takes to build real business applications? Those are a lot of \u2018ifs.\u2019 Where you run into danger is in certain investor discussions you see an unrealistic view of how quickly assets can be built.\u201d As such, Quilty says \u201cthere\u2019s probably a number of people who are going to lose money in the next five years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, Boggett underlined that investors must be prepared to see some of their backed projects sputter out. \u201cWe as a venture fund embrace risk. We expect to fail 50 percent of the time,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the 50 percent that hasn\u2019t failed has to become very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As far as where the panelists are looking for the biggest opportunities, the group generally agreed that satellite applications are the most promising, ranging from weather to the insurance market. \u201cMost of the work that\u2019s done is based on new data services. These present a lot of new opportunities that have not been explored much,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cIf you look at some of the machine learning frameworks it\u2019s still a nascent field, and for us, from the investment side, we want to see what some of the new approaches are.\u201d He pointed out that because most compelling research from machine learning frameworks is open source, a lot of new firms have a strong starting point, which results in less risk pursuing market opportunities in that market.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of a strong starting point is also relevant to the changing role of government in this new space environment. The panelists agreed that governments will provide an important foothold in the coming years. \u201cI\u2019m a big believer in the importance of the U.S. government as an early adopter of technology,\u201d Serafini said. \u201cThe U.S. government is a fantastic springboard for space companies, and is going to seed just about all activity in LEO for the commercial sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis made a similar point: \u201cMost sensing companies are looking to build markets in the commercial sector in general. Market generation takes time, so as a result they\u2019re going to need an anchor customer that is remotely familiar with consuming the products and services we\u2019re offering. The government serves as a strong anchor tenet for first year and second generation products,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the biggest limited partnerships in my fund is the U.K. government,\u201d Boggett added. <strong>VS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"widget-title\">In This Issue<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 307:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/I7J4dLBETnqrMufUQ24q_DSC_9704_web-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/I7J4dLBETnqrMufUQ24q_DSC_9704_web-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/I7J4dLBETnqrMufUQ24q_DSC_9704_web-800x534.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/I7J4dLBETnqrMufUQ24q_DSC_9704_web-640x428.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/I7J4dLBETnqrMufUQ24q_DSC_9704_web.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tBezos Announces Eutelsat as First Customer for New Glenn Rocket<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 312:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/56mNMvEqQECgSm6aN5jc_Space20Frontier20Photo-300x225.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/56mNMvEqQECgSm6aN5jc_Space20Frontier20Photo-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/56mNMvEqQECgSm6aN5jc_Space20Frontier20Photo-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/56mNMvEqQECgSm6aN5jc_Space20Frontier20Photo-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/56mNMvEqQECgSm6aN5jc_Space20Frontier20Photo.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tEntrepreneurs Go Head-to-Head at Startup Space Pitch Contest<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 311:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DNTdgKRjRSupuBKVBrGT_1148957_10152389297264727_3865298354223843595_n-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DNTdgKRjRSupuBKVBrGT_1148957_10152389297264727_3865298354223843595_n-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DNTdgKRjRSupuBKVBrGT_1148957_10152389297264727_3865298354223843595_n-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DNTdgKRjRSupuBKVBrGT_1148957_10152389297264727_3865298354223843595_n-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DNTdgKRjRSupuBKVBrGT_1148957_10152389297264727_3865298354223843595_n.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tOn the Future Profitability of the Smallsat Market<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 306:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/OgxLCvwhTuyzdbEpPFug_DSC_9753_web-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/OgxLCvwhTuyzdbEpPFug_DSC_9753_web-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/OgxLCvwhTuyzdbEpPFug_DSC_9753_web-800x534.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/OgxLCvwhTuyzdbEpPFug_DSC_9753_web-640x428.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/OgxLCvwhTuyzdbEpPFug_DSC_9753_web.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tTop Satellite CEOs Discuss Potential for Market Disruption and Opportunity in a Competitive Landscape<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 309:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/L8DTDA2SQOSRfZkItlVy_P3074572_web-300x225.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/L8DTDA2SQOSRfZkItlVy_P3074572_web-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/L8DTDA2SQOSRfZkItlVy_P3074572_web-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/L8DTDA2SQOSRfZkItlVy_P3074572_web-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/L8DTDA2SQOSRfZkItlVy_P3074572_web.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tWill Commercial Operators Play a Greater Role in US Milspace Future?<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you call it Space 2.0, NewSpace or just commercial space, the next era of innovation in space business has arrived. Carolyn Belle, senior analyst at Northern Sky Research, moderated an informative session titled \u201cEmerging Space and Satellite: Where to Invest Next?\u201d during which a panel of industry financial experts took a moment to discuss [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}