New Space economy: the business of the earth seen from space

The new guidelines of the European approach to the New Space Economy have produced a document entitled “New space for people” which defines the vision of the “New space for people” proposed by the EU Council: space technology, data and applications are considered as fundamental for commercial developments but also to reach the goals of the climate transition for the achievement of the objectives set by the European Green Deal. The New Space Economy is proving to be an increasingly strategic and interesting sector with repercussions on all economic activities. In this direction, Primo Space, a venture capital fund specialized in investments in the New Space Economy, and the European Space Agency (ESA), an international organization that has 22 Member States whose mission is to develop European space capabilities, have signed a agreement with the aim of joining efforts to support the growth of startups in the commercial sector of Earth Observation from Space. The collaboration will be coordinated by Φ-lab, a division of ESA that has a specific focus on promoting transformative innovation and its commercialization in the Earth Observation segment. Φ-lab also manages the 100M € commercial co-financing program called Investing in Industrial Innovation or InCubed, which aims to develop commercial and innovative products and services capable of exploiting the value of Earth observation satellite assets. collaboration range from the exchange of information, to the organization of events, to the reporting of common investment opportunities, providing joint support to business partners and, more generally, to reduce the risk of entrepreneurial activities, and therefore to increase their success, for both ESA InCubed and Primo Space Fund. The General Partners of Primo Space Fund Matteo Cascinari, Raffaele Mauro and Giorgio Minola explain: “We believe that, in addition to making investments capable of creating value which remains the primary objective of our business, it is also important to contribute to the formation of an ecosystem cohesive and determined that favors the development of start-ups that create great innovations. This agreement goes exactly in that direction ”. Giuseppe Borghi, head of the ESA Φ-lab division also commented: “The partnership with the Primo Space Fund is a fundamental step for us at ESA Φ-lab to support our InCubed commercial program, which already sees 29 investments made in just 3.5 years (4 completed and 3 that are already generating revenues) opening privileged access to the world of private investors to entrepreneurs active in Earth observation to support their growth based on innovation. Primo Space acts mostly in Italy, largest subscriber country of InCubed, and we expect a strong impact from this partnership ”.