Space Angels (formerly known as Space Angels Network Inc.) is a privately-held financial services company with a group of angel investors who are focused exclusively on the aerospace industry. It is based in New York with virtual offices in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Seattle, San Francisco, Stockholm, and Zurich. The typical investment is between $500,000 to $1,000,000 USD of equity. Space Angels operates as a financial services company in that it offers deal discovery, manages the deal flow pipeline, conducts due diligence, facilitates equity investment, and manages portfolio investments. More recently, it has developed an online platform with virtual deal rooms, where investors can see deal information and execute on investments.
The company was founded in 2007 with four Founding Members and it has since added seven Founding Partners. As of July 2016 the group comprised 214 accredited investors across 26 countries. It has invested in 33 companies including four in H1 2016, mostly in Seed and Series A rounds.
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History
Space Angels was founded in 2007 with the goal to manage and coordinate a group of angel investors that are specifically focused on the aerospace industry. The group began with four Founding Members: Esther Dyson (EDventure Holdings), Stephen Fleming (Atlanta Technology Angels), David S. Rose (New York Angels), and Ed Tuck (Falcon Fund).
Since 2012, with the addition of Chad Anderson as CEO, this mandate has expanded and involves deal discovery, managing the deal flow pipeline, conducting due diligence, facilitating equity investment, and managing portfolio investments. In 2015, Space Angels added seven Founding Partners: Eric Anderson, Esther Dyson, Yoel Gat, Steven Jorgenson, Nathan Kaiser, Joshua Schrager, and Dylan Taylor.
In 2017, the company rebranded as Space Angels - dropping "Network" from the name, unveiled a new logo, and launched a new website. As part of this rebranding a new company tagline was also announced: Explore | Invest | Ascend, which was said to reflect the company's new brand platform and belief that "space investing offers access to both adventure and meaning".
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Business Model
Accredited Investors
Membership in Space Angels limited to investors who qualify as accredited investors under Regulation D of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Currently the 214 investors have been actively sourced across multiple countries including: Australia, China, United States of America, United Kingdom, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, India, South Korea.
Deals
The number of deals executed through Space Angels as of H1 2016, stands at 33. Of the deals reviewed by Space Angels, only 5% are deemed investment grade and curated for presentation to members. Some of the more prominent deals by the group include Planetary Resources, Astrobotic, World View Enterprises, Planet (formerly Planet Labs), and Space Adventures. Notable co-investors include: Larry Page, Eric Anderson, and Peter Diamandis.
Investment Platform
Space Angels has developed a proprietary investment platform that provides investors with access to a deal room where they can browse and evaluate fund investment opportunities, view investment profiles, and sign investment documents. Deal rooms typically contain due diligence reports, pitch books, and an open dialogue with the start-up teams. Without this investment platform, there would be a lack of advancements in the aerospace industry. Private space investing has been growing very fast for the past 10 years. In 2015 there had been venture capital investments in the private space industry than in the 15 years prior and Space Angels plays a large role in this growing industry.
Expeditions
Expeditions are open to members of the Space Angels and typically involve multi-day trip to a city with established and emerging aerospace companies. Members tour the facilities of select companies and meet the team members. In 2014 it was in South California, in 2015 it was in Seattle, and in 2016 it will be in San Francisco.
Thought Leadership
In 2016, analysts at Space Angels published an article on the market for spacesuits. The report predicts that there will soon be a spike in spacesuit innovation along with a reduction the time required to bring a new product to market. With companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic entering the space industry, the next generation of spacesuits will be endowed with new capabilities. Customers will likely demand better communication, more comfort, flexibility, and aesthetic appeal.
Prior to this report, Space Angels published a blog outlining a segmentation of the space economy. The new framework is based on "Geographies", with three primary geographical regions: Terrestrial, In-Space, and Planetary.
In response to proposed amendments to the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Space Angels wrote a letter to Congress outlining their opposition to allowing excess intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) assets available for commercial use. The primary arguments are that the amendment would benefit one company and disrupt the hard-earned momentum in the emerging small satellite commercial launch market.
Earlier in March 2016, Space Angels participated alongside a coalition of 13 space companies to publish a space policy white paper titled "Ensuring US Leadership in Space".
"The coalition lays out several policy proposals, which, if adopted, will help sustain U.S. leadership in space. Among them are: committing to predictable budgets, funding robust investments, promoting innovative partnerships, and repealing the Budget Control Act of 2011; continuing global space engagement through programs like the International Space Station; fully funding the Space Launch System, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, and the Commercial Crew programs; providing increased resources for national security space and launch programs; promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education; retaining U.S.-educated workers; and further reducing barriers to international trade."
Space Law & Regulation
The investors in Space Angels will likely run into many regulations and laws revolving around the new frontier. Such laws will likely impact investment, but also protect investors. Space activities are conducted by governments, intergovernmental organizations, by hybrids, and by private civil entities. Most investment by civil entities will be conducted in commercial space business. The drafters of the existing space law treaties did not foresee changes in the private ownership of satellites in orbit. This can cause problems if a privately owned satellite is transferred to a new owner located in a state different from the launching state. In such a case the registration and oversight responsibilities as well as the potential liability for damage of the original launching state or states under the OST or the other space treaties continue even though the original launching state is no longer the state appropriate to supervise the satellite.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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