search

What main trends do you see in the space sector that makes it attractive for investors?

Pierre Festal, Promus Ventures: I see two: firstly, the privatisation of what was, up to 15-20 years ago, a primarily government-driven endeavour. It has made the sector much more open to innovation and entrepreneurial ventures.

investment opportunities in spaceSecondly, the radical decrease of the cost for launching payloads into space. The result is an explosion of companies looking into sending new payloads and satellites with new capabilities into orbit. These constellations will make a lot of things possible, particularly in the fields of Earth observation and remote sensing, which have tremendous value and a wealth of terrestrial applications.

In what geographical areas do you see most investment opportunities arise?

Space skills and interesting companies tend to come from the main established technology hubs: Silicon Valley, the US East Coast, the UK, India, China and so on. In Europe, we find Germany, the Nordic countries, France, Switzerland and also Eastern Europe particularly interesting. Promus Ventures has been doing early-stage deep-tech investing since the early 2010s, primarily in the US but also across the globe with an increasing focus on Europe. I joined the company in 2020 to head up our new European office located in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg is punching way above its weight, in space as well as in other technology sectors.

Luxembourg is punching way above its weight, in space as well as in other technology sectors. The country has done everything to attract companies and talent and build a very robust and international space ecosystem, and it is working. There is definitely a case to be made for Luxembourg as an attractive destination for space companies. We have already invested in one of the companies in the Luxembourg space community, Spire.

What return on investment can investors expect from the space sector?

The time frame depends on what part of the value chain and the ecosystem you are considering. We have a typical venture stage return horizon on 5-8 years, and you can definitely find technology with a relatively short-term return on investment of 5-10 years.

The more exotic space endeavours – space tourism, deep-space exploration, space colonisation, space mining, micro-gravity manufacturing, and so on – hold tremendous economic potential but tend to be much longer term of 10-15 years or more. For private investors this might not really make sense, but it is still interesting for governments or institutions wanting to make investments that will pay dividends in a distant, but not too distant, future.

Promus Ventures is one of the stakeholders of Orbital Ventures, an investment fund focused on early stage companies engaged in space activities that is backed by the Luxembourg government. What is the objective of this fund?

Orbital Ventures is a public-private cooperation that backs new space entrepreneurs and early stage start-ups with disruptive technologies, products and services across Europe and globally. We are investing in companies active in the broad space economy. The fund is yet another crucial building block for consolidating Luxembourg as a leader in the new space economy.

Illustrations: Quattro Creative

Read more

How to succeed with your expansion into Europe: the experts’ top tips

14-03-2023

Some success factors for international companies wanting to expand into the European market are quite obvious: having the right product/market fit and an offering that suits the culture and behaviour of European customers and finding the right business partners, for example. Others are less evident, but can be at least as important. We put together 9 key points from Luxembourg-based experts with decades of experience of advising international businesses about their entry to Europe.
Read more

Fortress, history, identity

10-03-2023

Art and history lovers can find their heart’s desire in Luxembourg City by walking along the so-called MuseumSmile, which is home to no less than seven museums.
Read more

University of Luxembourg ranks 4th worldwide for its high international outlook

09-03-2023

The University of Luxembourg was ranked among the top 250 universities in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023. The multicultural and research-oriented university in Luxembourg, comprised of over 50% of foreign students, was ranked fourth in the world for its international outlook.
Read more

Luxembourg bags world’s best in talent attraction twice in a row

03-03-2023

Luxembourg’s reputation as the world’s top talent magnet has once again been acknowledged in the 2022 Global Talent Competitiveness Index. For the second year in a row, the Grand Duchy retained its no. 1 position for attracting talents and was ranked 11th out of 133 countries assessed in the index, making it one of the top performers globally.
Read more

Luxembourg’s AAA credit rating affirmed by Fitch and Scope

27-02-2023

Luxembourg retained its AAA rating with a stable outlook in the most recent Fitch and Scope ratings. Both credit rating agencies based their conclusions on Luxembourg’s high economic resilience, good governance indices, and robust public finances. Key takeaways from the rating agencies’ evaluation are detailed below.
Read more

Resources all news

Fermer