London SME consultancy adds £1.4m to world’s first dedicated space VC fund

A London SME business consultancy has invested a further £1.4m into a “world-first” space fund to continue building up confidence in the sector.

Newable’s total investment to the the Seraphim Space Investment Trust is now £2m, with the latest injection having been made as part of the highly anticipated London IPO, which completed on 14 July.

The Seraphim Space Investment Trust, formerly the Seraphim Space Fund, was founded in 2016 with Newable as an original cornerstone investor.

Remaining the world’s first dedicated space VC fund, the mission of the Seraphim Space Investment Trust is to invest in early and growth stage space related technology businesses, with a particular focus on satellites.

It has a portfolio of almost 20 companies including a stake in Arqit, a British-based quantum encryption company; Altitude Angel, a builder of next-gen cloud services and PlanetWatchers, a satellite data analytics provider. Three companies within the portfolio have become unicorns, valued at over £1bn.

Newable has had a longstanding relationship with Seraphim Capital, the manager, having provided a wide range of additional support including collaborating in delivering the Space Tech Angels programme, since 2006.

Chris Manson, CEO of Newable, commented: “Seraphim’s IPO represents a full circle moment for Newable, which initially seeded Seraphim back in 2006, and again in 2016 when we saw great potential in the burgeoning space sector, which I am delighted to see has gone from strength to strength.

“The London IPO is a vote of confidence and the marking of a critical inflection point for investment in space more broadly. Newable will continue to invest both directly and indirectly in innovative, high growth companies and structures, which we believe can make a real difference to the UK economy.”

Mark Boggett, managing director, Seraphim Capital, added: “Newable put early faith in our vision, at a time when space-tech was truly in its infancy. The IPO represents the next chapter of growth for the sector and we are grateful to Newable for its continued support.”