The European space sector is experiencing a renaissance, and we can help you find the right space investment for your European company, based on your requirements. For example:
A stable Pension fund or insurer requires a space investment in an infrastructure project where the pay-off is reliable, and fixed and in the future, and related to energy efficiency.
A Venture Capital firm, based anywhere in Europe, will be seeking an early stage space company that has the technology and intellectual property advantage over US and Asian competitors, preferably having come from a prestigious European university and has been funded by local business angels.
An Investment Bank requires sound advice on the emerging array of space deals, be it merger and acquisitions, equity raises, or even IPO on a European stock exchange. There are many space deal out there, but what are they offering, what is the real market, what should the business model really look like?
High Net Worth Individuals require one-on-one advice on what space start-ups meet their requirements; can they work with the founders as the new company evolves?
We Make this Task Easier
Space Investment in Europe is driven by technological innovation, commercial applications, and of course strategic government initiatives: But what are these in practise?
Considering Europe is not the United States, and although the European Union exists to provide a united front, at a grass-roots level finding a space company in one of Europe’s many countries and even high-tech provinces is no easy task.
As seasoned Space Investors in Europe since 2014, we offer investors – from venture capitalists and private equity firms to high-net-worth individuals – a unique overview and long-term strategic view on capitalizing on the blooming European space market. We have a growing portfolio and cultivated a deep understanding of the local space industry’s intricacies, from upstream satellite technologies to downstream data analytics and beyond.
Let’s Start with Investing Alongside the European Space Agency (ESA)
For investors who want to understand ESA they have to use what it has provided, its interfaces are one option, but not the only option. Frequent queries are who to contact at an ESA investment office, are there ESA investment options, and how to enter the network of ESA investment contacts.
There already exists an ESA INVESTOR NETWORK, an ESA Φ-lab for innovative space companies, the European Business Angel Network – EBAN Space and Defence, and the Horizon Europe Space Programme.
These are vetted and industry specific, but with any publicly funded and supported interface, are skewed to promoting, in a typical European fashion, home-grown favourites. This strategy worked for NASA with SpaceX, but to date there is no clear rising version of a European SpaceX to elbow the Ariane launch program aside. Also, SpaceX has east-coast USA, while Europe’s Spaceport is in French Guiana.
Recently the ESA Council Approved an initial 2025 Budget of €7.7 billion, but how do these funds trickle down and seed the most innovative of Europe’s space tech start-ups?
European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre(s) are spread out throughout Europe to support innovative space companies.
Note: We created a space start-up “Lunar Resources Registry” and managed it through one of ESA’s “soft” investment process: A European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC). The process is quite technically demanding yett the outcome is that the ESA BICs filter out the companies and individuals who can’t make the grade. From our experience with an ESA BIC we then took our company into a Thales Alenia Space – Space Business Catalyst accelerator. These processes strengthen emerging space companies by refining technology specifications and defining exact business models for the NewSpace Economy.
What Is Investable in the European Space Ecosystem?
Europe is emerging as a slow but steady space innovator, regardless of how it seems to “regulate before innovate”. Initiatives from the European Space Agency and national space agencies (DLR, CNES, UK Space Agency) make a reasonable effort to foster a vibrant ecosystem of startups and established companies.
On offer are various kinds of investments in:
Launch Services: From micro-launchers to reusable rockets. Most are still under development but the key to remember is that each major country in Europe needs its own launcher.
Satellite Constellations: Including communication, Earth observation, Quantum encryption, and navigation.
Space Data Analytics: Probably the best thing to come out of Europe’s aspirational GPS constellation, Galileo, and its famous earth observation network, Copernicus, is the plethora of downstream data. Turning raw satellite data into actionable insights for various sectors, including agriculture, climate monitoring, and urban planning, has seen many European space start-ups scale up, but that wave may have reached a crescendo.
Space Manufacturing: Europe is pioneering in-orbit manufacturing and space resources utilization for future space exploration and commercial ventures, thanks to its industrial past. This could be the jackpot, where Europe, once the imperial master of colonies, vies for the towering heights of domineering the resources markets on the Moon in 10 to 20 years.
Space Stocks in Europe. Europe is far behind in launching Space IPOs, but there are a few local companies, mainly the large satellite operators.
How Do Private European Investors Make the Right Choice in European Space Investing?
Usually Private European Investors chose a space investment based on what is in their local network, basically on the theory of trusting those where are geographically and legally nearer to you. This works in part to support local space innovators, but Europe has an abundance of talent, and unlike the US, not that many space investors, and unlike China, an EU government that sees space as a science spectacle and not a realistic industry.
Herein lies the opportunity: The rigours of the European public investment process filters-in the very capable innovators, but private capital from Europe can play a pivotal role.
How We Can Help You
Our expertise is identifying promising European-based space companies that are seeking investment. We screen every week pitches for the new to mid-level space companies.
If you would like to know more, please get in contact.
To review a list of European companies that are now trading on the stock market, visit European Space Stocks.
Below: A satellite image of Frankfurt, taken in 2017, using Copernicus Sentinel data.
