Matt Grimm

"We’re now completely sold out in the US until mid-2027"- Topher Haddad and remaining tasking availability is dwindling globally: https://albedo.com/reserve What is Albedo doing again?? We build and operate satellites that co-collect 10 cm/pixel visible imagery with 2 m/pixel thermal (LWIR) imagery. Native GSDs. ^ resolution comparable to that of imagery collected by planes, but we're doing it from space 🙃 We couldn’t be more excited about our initial customers and are stoked to see who all snags the rest of our remaining capacity. Be among the first commercial end users EVER to have access to this unprecedented dataset. Cheers! https://lnkd.in/gtBuW68c

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Must read if you're building in the defense ecosystem. Vannevar Labs is giving new meaning to understanding customer needs by embedding engineers alongside their users, allowing them to quickly iterate and build product directly with warfighters. Scaling the FDE function has been a key unlock to becoming a multi-product defense company and expanding into new missions and customer groups.

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AST SpaceMobile Stock Surges, Hits $5.6B Market Cap 🛰 Huge news from AST SpaceMobile as share price jumped another 18% yesterday, bringing its year-to-date market gains to a staggering 326%. The company’s market cap now sits at $5.6B, ranking it among the highest-valued space businesses in the world after SpaceX. AST SpaceMobile Stock Surges, Hits $5.6B Market Cap - Payload (payloadspace.com)

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In the earliest stages, startups have to balance two needs: capital to build now, and the focus to create the product that will bring their vision to life. We experienced this journey at Prewitt Ridge, and I had the opportunity to share parts of our story last week at AIAA ASCEND, and I wanted to share some of the highlights here, as well as the video clip captured by my teammate York Zhang! Steve Massey and I incorporated Prewitt Ridge in Dec 2019 and hit the ground running in 2020. Building on our experience as engineers working at SpaceX and Slingshot Aerospace, we set out to take a picks-and-shovels approach to build digital engineering software tooling for engineers like us, who are working at the companies out there using the picks and shovels, here on Earth and soon in space. We quickly found that there were a host of resources available to us. We received initial funding through the SBIR/STTR program, an initiative from the US government to provide early-stage technology funding for small businesses. With two STTR awards and a great university partner at UNM, we began to execute on our product vision. Simultaneously, we received phenomenal support from the Techstars Space Accelerator program. This accelerator helped us focus on the tradeoffs of bootstrapped growth through SBIR/STTR vs traditional fundraising. SBIR/STTR are fantastic sources of capital, providing a partnership that helps small businesses build through non-dilutive funding. But it’s important to remember that these opportunities are focused on specific topics and non-recurring. As a business, it's important to be disciplined on aligning the SBIR/STTR opportunities with your core product features and strategies to ensure they don't impede your teams execution. We made the decision to balance both SBIR/STTR with growth via venture capital. We successfully raised a round of funding, led by Squadra Ventures with participation from Stage Venture Partners, Aurelia Foundry, Wonder Ventures, Haystack, Acequia Capital, Techstars and GC&H We’ve had a wonderful experience working with the VC community, highlighted by the hands-on approach and national security expertise of Squadra Ventures. Going forward, we’ll continue to consider both types of funding. These resources have provided numerous connections to government and industry leaders, and in turn they have helped to focus our tool offering and capabilities. Our journey shows the importance of another balance that startups must strike: reducing risk and optimizing opportunities. Thanks to Techstars, AIAA ASCEND and all of the panelists for a great conversation! If you’re interested in discussing solutions for digital engineering, get in touch! #startups #aerospace #AIAAASCEND

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I am pleased to share the Seraphim Space Q3 2024 Index. Our quarterly review of global private SpaceTech investment. Great work from the team at Seraphim Space! 🛰️ Space startups raised $1.9 billion in the third quarter, up nearly a fifth from a year earlier, fueled by strong investor interest in rocket launchers and satellite manufacturers 💰 Nine of the top ten space sector deals in the third quarter were for capital-intensive businesses. As the activity and investment opportunities in space continue to grow, the industry now needs businesses capable of meeting demand for satellite launches 💹 Funding in the third quarter was up 18% from a year earlier at $1.9 billion, with an average deal size of $18 million 🌍 The largest transaction of the three-month period to Sept. 30 was for World Labs, a geospatial intelligence firm, which raised $230 million 🏈 The United States again overtook China in space startups funding so far this year. Find out more in the full report ⬇️ chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://lnkd.in/euyW64dc

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Summary: The article discusses Palantir's role in the growing defense tech startup sector and its efforts to become a driving force in the industry. The company's CTO, Shyam Sankar, is determined to help Palantir create a defense tech ecosystem and maximize its impact beyond its government contracts. Key takeaways: Sankar has initiated the First Breakfast program to provide guidance and tools to defense tech startups, aiming to secure a head start in the industry and identify potential "next Palantirs." Palantir has spawned a whole ecosystem in its wake, as evidenced by the success of former employees who have gone on to start their own successful defense tech companies. Sankar is driven by an existential fear of America's war-readiness and believes that more innovative and adaptable solutions are needed to ensure national security in the future. Counter arguments: Some may argue that Palantir's efforts to support and influence the defense tech industry could raise concerns about its potential for monopolizing the market. Critics may point out that Palantir's controversial partnerships with government agencies, especially ICE, raise ethical concerns and contradict its stated mission to protect Western values.

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Who doesn't love chatting about the frontier of Space?! Loved getting this insiders look from Epsilon3 CEO Laura Crabtree (ex-SpaceX, Northrop Grumman) as the industry reshapes into a lightening fast startup ecosystem for us to marvel. Small teams are lowering the cost to access space. Homegrown automation software is dramatically reducing team size -- as Laura puts it: "You won’t see 50 people in a control room for launch…you’ll see 5 controlling 50 different assets and a couple of 100 assets that are mostly operating on their own." Personally i'm keeping a close eye on the new interconnectedness between space and the broader economy will spark a flywheel of innovation. 🎙️ Listen in to our discussion (link in comments) as we release today -- 5YF#16: Space command reimagined, automating mission control, new deep tech hubs, interstellar missions, and the future of space operations w/ Epsilon3 CEO Laura Crabtree To infinity!

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As a founder, asymmetry is your superpower. This is how you use it to win 🇺🇸🇺🇸

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Where is the money? "In Q1, funding to startups in the industries of military, national security and law enforcement dropped to $118 million, a 74% drop from the $459 million invested in such startups in Q1 of last year." #funding #investment #investmentstrategies #defence #dualuse #venturecapital #privateequity

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Friends, Q2 was a quarter of progress and learning for us at HawkTower, where we invest in early-stage startups applying breakthrough computing technologies to maximize California's natural resource markets. Our focus is on technology-enabled interventions (e.g., AI-enabled geospatial radars for lithium-ion batteries in the waste stream) for critical, market-level imperatives (e.g., disaster prevention) that can drive rapid commercial adoption (e.g., placed on every recycling truck in the world). Our current investment priorities are: - Agricultural productivity and efficiency - Biomanufacturing - Labor and mobility automation - Waste stream optimization and decarbonization - Disaster prevention and management Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to: Milestones and Investments: - In late April, we officially launched our fund, filing with the SEC. Yay. - By June, we completed our first fund close ahead of schedule, with backing from family offices, foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and organizations aligned with California's future. - Our portfolio now includes three early-stage investments (Farm-ng, Agriful Software, and Nexstera Tech). Strategic Partnerships: - We believe that startups operating closer to their customers and resources, especially in agriculture and biomanufacturing, have a strategic advantage. For instance, the Salinas Valley, a major agricultural hub, is less than an hour from Silicon Valley and serves as a center of thought leadership in the convergence of agriculture and AI (from Western Growers, Taylor Farms, and others). - Similarly, the North San Joaquin Valley is emerging as a biotech and agtech innovation hub, and we are proud to support BEAM Circular, a startup hub for the circular bioeconomy. Key Relationships: - Karen Warner, CEO of BEAM Circular, joined HawkTower as a strategic advisor. - Jackie Cruz, Ed. D. Cruz, Hartnell College’s VP of Advancement, advises on Salinas Valley and workforce development. - Ben Palone from Western Growers, with his technical background in agriculture, became a trusted advisor. - Matthew Hoffman from Driscoll's Global R&D team provides insights on global agriculture, product positioning, and investment strategy. - We collaborated with Monterey Bay DART for workforce development and automation in agtech. - Dominic Milano and the Milano Technical Group from Merced collaborated on key initiatives and advised us on investments. - HawkTower is participating in Santa Cruz Works's accelerator cohort as a mentor and advisor. Thank you Doug Erickson. - We published an overview of entrepreneurship across the UC system with input from across the University of California system. Moving into the fall, we remain deeply committed to supporting founders shaping California's future natural resource markets. Stay tuned and be in touch! : ) Db

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I expanded the map: in blue is where both area-based and OOP/MV (under infrastructure shielding) are covered. In yellow is where only OOP/MV (under infrastructure shielding) is covered. Reach out if you want a closer look. This is becoming good to overlay with cell coverage maps, your asset in question, and other flight planning tools to ultimately answer: is BVLOS right for you?

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We’re excited to announce that Pyka has raised $40M in Series B funding to accelerate the commercialization of their autonomous electric aircraft! Led by Obvious Ventures, with support from Piva Capital, Prelude Ventures, Metaplanet, and Y Combinator, this investment will expand Pyka’s impact in sectors like agriculture, cargo transport, and defense logistics. With commercial operations already underway across multiple continents and partners like Dole and Embraer, Pyka is transforming aviation while driving sustainability and decarbonization. ⚡✈️ More here from TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/gGYfc824

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The 'picks and shovels' era of aerospace, defense, and space tech is upon us. Both private equity and venture capital are taking notice per PitchBook. It's not just about rockets and jet fighters - it is about materials, technology, supply chain, components. Historically, private market investors have been challenged by the high upfront capital expenses, long sales cycles, and customer concentration that tend to come with companies in these sectors. However, supply chain, components, materials - those are areas that private market investors know well, and are comfortable underwriting. These business model patterns are easier to recognize and replicate. Endeavor Colorado Zeb King Tegan Stanbach Kathryn Dickson #privateequity #venturecapital #innovation #entrepreneurship #founders #startups #investing https://lnkd.in/gURZ_i7B

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Congrats team Lodestar Space to closing this £2.5M pre seed round! Off to the (new space) races. At Inflection.xyz we are committed to pioneer sovereign computation as the biggest leverage for human progress. The space economy will help us provide valuable services from imagery and connectivity on earth all the way to in space semiconductor production, energy harnessing, regulating the earths climate and becoming an interplanetary species in the long run. Object manipulation is a very present bottleneck for repair, refuelling and other services. As opposed to tele operated robots that come with high latency, connectivity issues, human failure and high costs Lodestar Space is taking a different approach. By leveraging new materials, additive manufacturing and advancements in AI and in-space „edge“ compute capabilities (see our portfolio Cryptosat) they enable autonomous robotics operating in real time and far beyond human precision. Based on their space specific data set - robots and objects behave very differently at 0 gravity, extreme light conditions and temperatures - new applications and interfaces become possible. Data network effects are expected to accelerate development across verticals. Read more about the company’s value propositions, team and vision on https://www.lodestar.space Reach out if you see room for collaboration!

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The clash between military procurement schedules and venture funding remains a major hurdle for startups, but we’re starting to see progress with new programs and initiatives from the DOD. There's still ground to cover for startups to truly thrive on the global stage, but I’m optimistic about where this industry is heading. Thanks to Marc Vartabedian for highlighting this in The Wall Street Journal and including my take on how these dynamics are shaping the future of #defensetech.

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Some more insight into what we are building at Aerodome 📈🚀

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Congratulations to Kern Venture Group portfolio company Cambium on being Named One of the Top 100 Venture Funded, Defense and Dual Use Start-ups by the Silicon Valley Defense Group. This annual ranking and report, sponsored by JPMorganChase's Aerospace & Defense Industry division, is SVDG's annual ranked list of the emerging US techno-security ecosystem of venture-backed companies. The ranking is the product of a proprietary, quantitative formula created by SVDG, in collaboration with Franklin Templeton and Balyasny Asset Management L.P., fortified by conversations with technology leaders across the US Government and allied partner governments, and categorized against the United States Department of Defense's 14 Critical Technology Areas. https://lnkd.in/gbCkssFy

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Integrating advanced tech into military gear like jets can seriously ramp up performance and effectiveness. It's about the necessity of staying ahead in a world where tech evolves at warp speed. In the military, like in many tech-heavy fields, staying on top means constantly adapting and improving. That drive for the latest and greatest is all about survival and maintaining superiority. My push for using the F-22 over the F-15? It's based on seeing firsthand how vital advanced tech can be in high-stakes scenarios. When you're up there, the confidence you have in your equipment can make or break missions. It's a lesson that's pretty universal, whether you're in the air or on the ground in any high-tech field: always innovate, always adapt, and trust in the best tools at your disposal to get the job done. #fighterpilot #f22 #f15 #fighterjet #airforce #aircraft #aviationvideos #aviationgeek #reels #joshgunderson

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Payload's article "SpaceX Won’t Be Visiting Hubble Anytime Soon" highlights 3 main risks with a commercial crewed mission to repair the aging Hubble Telescope: 1) Operational risks 2) Docking risks 3) Technological risks Two of these make sense, but ....docking? How can we let something so fundamental to spaceflight, that we've been doing since the 1960's, hold us back from ambitious missions like this one (and the dozens of other mission use cases out there). This is a great example of why Obruta is solely focused on developing the next generation of RPOD tech. Spacecraft docking should be so prevalent it is second thought, and I'd like to see a future with accessible and available docking technology so we can fly these kinds of missions, and many more like it. Obruta's making it happen. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gcvvXn-h

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