Over the next ten years, Einstein Industries Ventures' management team targets a fund worth euro 300 million to invest in Europe's leading growth-stage New Space downstream technologies, Earth observation and sensor technology.

In line with ESA's Agenda 2025 to commercialise space, one of the main goals of ESA's Commercialisation department is to mobilise a pool of influential financial market participants to develop and integrate informed space investment decision-making capacity in the space domain thereby increasing and facilitating access to finance for European space companies.

Einstein Industries Ventures is an independent venture capital company based in Germany. It finances start-up companies during their critical growth phase. Its primary focus is on industrial value creation.

An increasingly data-based and networked industrial and information society in Europe depends on always having self-determined access to critical infrastructure and services. Value creation is needed along the entire value chain. Einstein Industries Ventures recognises the role of space and its value in achieving autonomy for Europe in the current global digital transformation.

In its collaboration with Einstein Industries Ventures, ESA will provide strategic advice and technical expertise, thus supporting informed financial decisions and efficient allocation of equity capital among innovative growth companies as they emerge from the start-up phase.

ESA's Director General, Josef Aschbacher, noted, "The further development of space and the assertion of its capabilities in industrial value creation, as well as the new emphasis on space commercialisation and the New Space approach, can become an important differentiator for European space, and bring significant competitive advantages to Europe's industry and economy."

Ulrich Hermann, CEO and General Partner of Einstein Industries Ventures, commented, "NewSpace companies from the US and China are already starting to integrate their services into one of Europe's core domains being our industrial value chain." He added, "Industrial companies across all sectors, such as agriculture, manufacturing, automotive, energy, insurance, finance and logistics, should engage in fostering a European New Space ecosystem - by the way, such being a remarkable growth opportunity - otherwise Europe will face dependency on service and product providers outside our joint economic area in the upcoming IoT [Internet of Things] era."

This partnership with Einstein Industries Ventures complements ESA's space commercialisation strategy and the European Commission's Cassini initiative to promote entrepreneurship in space, in collaboration with the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund.

The collaboration agreement was signed by Josef Aschbacher and Ulrich Hermann, in the presence of Geraldine Naja, ESA Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement, at ESA Headquarters in Paris on 16 November 2022.