VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners Invests in SCOUT Space Inc. to Build Sustainable Space Safety and Transparency
Company enables satellites to navigate autonomously to identify and avoid risks and failures
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, June 22, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Virginia Venture Partners, the equity investment program of Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), today announced an investment in SCOUT Space Inc. Alexandria, Va.-based SCOUT Space Inc. is working to develop orbital products and services to enable a new era of space safety and transparency. Since VIPC’s prior investment in August 2022, SCOUT has grown its team, prepped for their next payload for space flight, grown commercial and customer funnels, made progress on product development efforts, and is now positioned for rapid growth.
SCOUT will make use of VIPC’s recent investment to bring its SCOUT-Vision to production readiness, secure the SCOUT OWL, a multispectral and long-range articulating vision system to an operational phase, continue to grow and expand their team, and further its market penetration initiatives.
Over the next decade, we will launch more spacecraft and satellites into orbit than we have in the entirety of humanity’s history. Ensuring a safe, sustainable space environment requires a better understanding of the nature of space traffic, and the development of satellite autonomy. Better space traffic insight translates to a more enhanced understanding of who’s doing what, while space autonomy depends on spacecraft operating with full visibility of their surroundings. Security and knowledge of orbit affects what happens on Earth. The two aren’t mutually exclusive; they’re interconnected.
Eric Ingram, Co-Founder and CEO of SCOUT Space adds, “ We’re proud to be a Virginia based company and we’re grateful that VIPC, a longtime partner of ours, has continued to support and invest in our vision to build our growing space business in Virginia and beyond. Our plug and play payload systems and solutions, augment space missions, and give spacecraft and satellites the super power of autonomy while in orbit; and VIPC’s investment in us is a testament to their support in helping us build a safer and more transparent space. There has never been a more critical time in space operations for spacecraft and satellites to have the ability to “see things in space” and make decisions while in orbit to avoid collisions and to assist other spacecraft. Our space industry is growing at an unprecedented rate and we are positioned to support this ecosystem’s growing space asset population with valuable space-based data-sets that are cost effective, customizable, and mitigate the overhead of in-house development costs.”
SCOUT Space was founded in 2019 and offers plug and play in-space vision solutions to enhance their customers’ missions by enabling their spacecraft to perform proximity operations, neighborhood watch, gather visual data and intelligence, self protect, and perform hemispherical surveys to identify un-tracked objects outside the domain of traditional sensors. SCOUT has proven flight heritage and has been operational in space since June of 2021 on Orbit Fab’s Tanker-001 Tenzing mission. SCOUT also has two (2) mission contracts in place with Momentus Space and $3.2M in government and defense awarded contracts to date.
“SCOUT is passionate about space safety and sustainability. As more technology becomes available for space use, it is our responsibility it is being used carefully and responsibly,” says Tom Weithman, VIPC Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director of Virginia Venture Partners. “The SCOUT Space team is committed to making space a safer and more sustainable environment for all of us here on Earth.”
SCOUT recognizes the need for better and more diverse space-based data-sets; to help ensure safety in space operations for a sustainable space environment, now and in the future, for all us here in Virginia and on Earth.
VIPC’s investment in Scout Space Inc. draws upon funds made available through the U.S. Treasury Department State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Program.
About Scout Space Inc.
SCOUT Space was founded in 2019 with the mission to enable a new era of space safety and transparency. SCOUT’s in-space products and services, first launched in June 2021, allow spacecraft to see and understand things around them. The orbital distributed sensor network developed by SCOUT will significantly improve Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and ensure responsible use of the space environment. The company is a Techstars, MassChallenge, and venture-backed startup with ongoing government and commercial contracts. SCOUT holds the Established® 2021 Startup of the Year® title. For more information, visit www.scout.space.
About Virginia Venture Partners Virginia Venture Partners is the equity investment program of VIPC that makes seed-stage equity investments in Virginia-based technology, clean energy, and life science companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating a significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Since its inception in 2005, Virginia Venture Partners has deployed $41.8 million in capital across more than 275 portfolio companies, including 17 companies in designated Opportunity Zones. Virginia Venture Partners’ investment decisions are guided by the Virginia Venture Partners Investment Advisory Board (IAB). This independent, third-party panel has drawn from the expertise of leading regional entrepreneurs, angel, and strategic investors, and venture capital firms such as New Enterprise Associates, Grotech Ventures, Harbert Venture Partners HIG Ventures, Edison Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Intersouth Partners, SJF Ventures, Carilion Health Systems, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Alpha Natural Resources. For more information, please visit www.virginiaipc.org.
About Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
VIPC: Connecting innovators with opportunities. As the nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), VIPC is the commercialization and seed stage economic development driver in the Commonwealth that leads funding, infrastructure, and policy initiatives to support Virginia’s innovators, entrepreneurs, startups, and market development strategies. VIPC collaborates with local, regional, state, and federal partners to support the expansion and diversification of Virginia’s economy.
Programs include: Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) | VVP Fund of Funds (SSBCI) | Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) |Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) | Petersburg Founders Fund (PFF) | Smart Communities | The Virginia Smart Community Testbed | The Virginia Unmanned Systems Center | Virginia Advanced Air Mobility Alliance (VAAMA) | The Public Safety Innovation Center |Entrepreneurial Ecosystems | Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) | Federal Funding Assistance Program (FFAP) for SBIR & STTR | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement. For more information, please visit www.VirginiaIPC.org. Follow VIPC on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Angela Costello, Vice President of Communications
Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
angela.costello@VirginiaIPC.org
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