SPACEtalks - investors looking to infinity and beyond

I recently attended the downstream day of the SPACEtalks conference hosted by the European Space Agency at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. 

The schedule was packed with a variety of speakers and topics, from sustainability and safety in space to the use of AI for dealing with the increasingly vast amounts of geospatial data. Fortunately, there was time in-between panel discussions to connect with the other attendees and hear about their aspirations over some very welcome refreshments. 

One thing made abundantly clear from the conference is that the space sector is growing at a rapid rate. More and more commercial companies are considering entering the sector and with them, come venture capitalists looking for their next investment. 

A repeated message from many of the venture capitalists was that they are looking for companies that have a clear plan for how they are going to grow and make a profit, rather than companies they described as “grant junkies”, that constantly change focus to chase the next source of funding without accomplishing their previous goal. A lot of companies consider IP as just another box to tick so that their pitch is taken seriously, but proper protection and leveraging of IP can defend what would otherwise be a floating asset of the company, and even provide a source of income. Marks & Clerk has published a book, The IP Driven Start-up, to help start-ups plan for and utilise their IP, but it is never too late to consider your IP strategy. 

It was an excellent event and I will definitely be… watching this space.