Rake it in (7/18/23)

Good morning. Hope your week started off on a high note.

Today’s newsletter:
📈 Seraphim space index
🎙️ Pathfinder #0055
🔁 On the move

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Seraphim Releases Space Index

Seraphim, a leading space VC firm HQ’d in the UK, has released its yearly index on funding and acquisition activity across the space industry. Seraphim’s tracking data shows signs that investment activity is bouncing back from the economic woes and restrained capital markets of last year.

Deals, deals, deals: The trailing twelve months (TTM) analysis of the number of investments dropped in the most recent period compared to the period before, but the average size of those deals was greater, Seraphim’s analysts wrote.

“What we are seeing is a greater concentration of capital this quarter, with the same amount of capital deployed in fewer, larger growth stage deals,” the authors wrote, noting that this is “an early indicator of a recovery in the growth-stage market.”

Looking at the quarterly data yields a clearer indication that investment activity is starting to pick up steam after the dramatic lows of the second half of 2022.

• Investors injected $1.2B into the space industry in Q2 2023.

• The same quarter saw 31% fewer deals than in the previous quarter, but still higher than anything before Q4 2021.

• “Each of the last 3 quarters have set all time records for the highest total number of SpaceTech deals,” the authors wrote.

Young and hungry: There’s been a changing of the guard when it comes to the leaders of M&A activity in the space market; where most of these deals were once led by primes and “old space” corporations, now they’re performed by younger companies. The report’s authors take this as a sign that new space “has matured and is no longer such a nascent industry.”

• Seraphim tracked 28 total acquisitions over the last 12 months.

• Of these, the largest portion were led by younger space companies, such as “Planet acquiring Salo Sciences, or Slingshot acquiring Numerica.”

The M&A activity hasn’t just been left to new space, though. Seraphim also noted a trend of more private equity investors scooping up companies.

“With PE investors approaching the industry through a more profit minded lens, improved margins on products and capital efficient businesses will provide attractive targets moving forwards,” the authors wrote.

The SPAC blues: There was a certifiable boom of space tech companies entering the public markets via SPAC back in 2021, and a notable handful of stragglers taking the same approach in 2022. By and large, the past few years have not been kind to these public companies, and the rest of the industry has taken note.

• There have been very few new SPAC mergers in the last 12 months (with the notable exceptions of Intuitive Machines and SatixFy).

• World View, a stratospheric balloon tourism company, has a SPAC planned in the near future.

Sponsored

Join ITA and Space Foundation for Spazio

Join ITA Houston - Italian Trade Agency and Space Foundation for the third episode of Spazio: "Italian New Space," streaming live on LinkedIn and Twitter on Thursday, July 20th, at 11:00 am EST (10:00 am CT).

Uncover the path through innovation of the most visionary Italian space entrepreneurs and learn more about Italy's impact on the News Space Economy. With our host Kelli Kedis Ogborn, VP of Space Commerce & Entrepreneurship at Space Foundation, this time you’ll find Francesco De Stefano, Co-Founder and CEO at CARACOL and Renato Panesi, CCO and Founder at D-Orbit.

Visit the landing page to watch the previous episodes or to sign up for the newsletter.

Helping Engineers Engineer Better and Pathfinder #0055 with Steve Massey

Across government and commercial engineering projects, one thing remains the same: bottlenecks causing extreme delays, stretching projects that should take six weeks on for six months. That’s what cofounder and CEO of Prewitt Ridge Steve Massey believes his company can help his customers change.

Enter Prewitt Ridge: Prewitt Ridge is a software company that helps engineers manage engineering requirements in complex projects. The company's software, Verve, captures and manages engineering requirements inside the tools where they originate and across complex datasets.

Said differently…Prewitt Ridge's software helps engineers to be more organized and efficient, which can lead to faster, cheaper and more reliable product development.

A sneak peek…

Steve held roles at Slingshot Aerospace and SpaceX before teaming up with fellow cofounder and CTO Zeke Brechtel to start Prewitt Ridge. Today, Mo and Steve discuss:

• Prewitt Ridge’s value-add to the space industry

• Tapping into NASA’s expertise in systems engineering

• The future of automation in aerospace

• Working on Hyperloop technology

• And much more…

Pathfinder #0055 is live now…

…check it out on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or desktop.

In Other News

• A UK Parliament committee is pushing for a faster approach to issuing launch licenses.

• SpaceX forecasts 2028 revenue to hit $8B and operating profits to hit $3B, according to a The Information report.

• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) successfully completed a test run of its Nova-C lunar lander.

• Starbase tested its new OLM water deluge system, blasting water upwards with ridiculous force.

• Australia’s space agency reported what may be a huge piece of space debris washed up on a beach.

• Rocket Lab ($RKLB) conducted a controlled recovery of its Electron booster at sea, reporting minimal damage.

The View from Space