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The 12-week accelerator will focus on startups working in sectors
ranging from climate technology and defense to communications and
mobility.
Startup accelerators support early-stage companies through
education, mentorship and financing. Examples include Y Combinator,
which helped launch companies such as vacation rental firm Airbnb
and social media platform Reddit.
Generation Space will look to replicate the European Seraphim Space
accelerator, in which over $240 million in equity funding has been
raised from 90 venture capital firms since 2018.
The space industry is grappling with a slowdown in funding due to
rising fears about the economy. Investment in space startups more
than halved last year after a record 2021.
Seraphim Space still sees some positive signs. It said seed deals
were up about 50% in 2022, a sign of investor interest in
early-stage startups despite the sagging economy.
The venture capital firm has helped launch $1.2 billion worth
satellite communications firm AST SpaceMobile Inc and data and
analytics company Spire Global, which has a market valuation of
nearly $200 million.
Northern Sky Research last year predicted the global space industry
would rake in revenue of $1.25 trillion by 2030, representing a
compounded annual growth rate of 6.25%.
Macroeconomic fears have prompted space companies to prioritize
proven business models, revenue and government contracts, VC firm
Space Capital wrote in a report last month.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and
Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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