An Orlando venture capital firm’s next aerospace-focused investment fund is ready for launch.
E2MC LLC will “imminently” begin to invest into startups with money from its second investment fund, Managing Partner Raphael Roettgen told Orlando Inno. After a proof-of-concept fund that deployed money in companies from Barcelona to Cape Canaveral during the past two years, E2MC seeks more space-focused investment deals around the globe, he said. The firm operates offices in Orlando; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Zurich, Switzerland.
This fund is important locally, because it may result in more startup investment deals in Central Florida, which boasts a sizable aerospace industry. Investment dollars help early-stage companies grow, often leading to the creation of high-wage jobs and innovation solutions for businesses in the region.
'Only the beginning'
Roettgen, who founded E2MC in 2019, said his firm boasts a dozen partners, employees and advisors with backgrounds in satellites, space investing, general venture capital and more. A veteran of investment banks and hedge funds, Roettgen and his partners launched an aerospace-focused investment firm to capitalize on the increasing use of rockets and satellites as the cost to launch steadily falls, Roettgen said.
“People are starting to realize the potential of space. Looking at plans we receive from firms, 90%-99% of founders are people already in the space industry. When people from outside [of the industry] realize they can do something interesting with that and start partnering with space people on the technical side, that’s when we’re going to see big opportunities.”
E2MC is interested in promising space companies around the world. The firm will write checks for the pre-seed round and beyond, Roettgen said. He didn't disclose the size of the second fund, E2MC Ventures 2 LP. A Nov. 12 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the fund indicates it will raise an “indefinite” amount.
E2MC invested in one Central Florida startup from its first fund: Kennedy Space Center-based Space Perspective Inc. E2MC participated in the space balloon company’s $7 million seed round in 2020 and its $40 million Series A round in October.
Looking ahead, E2MC expects to see more potential deals in Florida due to its business-friendly environment and longstanding aerospace industry on the Space Coast, Roettgen said. “We expect the Space Coast ecosystem to grow stronger.”
Space investing rockets forward
Around the world, the final frontier of space is drawing more attention from startup investors. In 2012 and 2013, less than $5 billion in capital was invested annually in the aerospace sector, per New York-based Space Capital’s quarterly report. Since 2014, annual investment routinely exceeds $20 billion each year, the report showed.
In the third quarter, $8.7 billion was invested into space companies. That was a drop from $10 billion in the second quarter, but an improvement from roughly $7 billion in the third quarter a year ago.
Another example of the interest in early-stage space companies is Melbourne-based Spaced Ventures Inc. The company in October announced a $1.2 million seed round to fund the growth of its crowdfunding portal that lets nearly anyone invest in aerospace startups.
This opens space investing to more people than the typical “high-net-worth investors,” Spaced Ventures CEO and co-founder Aaron Burnett previously said. “The excitement for the space industry has never been greater and this unprecedented access to space investing will spur innovation and will be the key to putting humanity into space permanently.”
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