Protégé Ventures fuels Singapore's space ambitions with investment into eco friendly rocket propulsion space start up

Student venture capitalists from Protégé Ventures are redefining the future with their latest strategic investment in a space-tech start-up. This bold move attests to Singapore Management University's commitment to nurturing next-generation entrepreneuria

By the SMU Corporate Communications team

30 Aug 2024

Singapore, 30 Aug 2024 - Protégé Ventures (PV), Southeast Asia's first and Singapore's only student-led venture capital fund, has invested S$25,000 in pre-Series A round funding in Equatorial Space Systems (ESS), Singapore's only rocket propulsion and space launch start-up

PV is a nationwide training programme and student venture capital fund, established in 2017 by the Singapore Management University (SMU)'s Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE), which has deep roots in the Singapore innovation research ecosystem. The programme aims to nurture the next generation of venture capitalists and tech and entrepreneurial leaders, empowering youth to fund the future they believe in.

Investing in sustainability and deep tech start-ups

PV has invested over S$300,000 in 12 student start-ups since 2017. This is its 12th investment into a student-founded start-up and is the first investment drawing from its second fund - PV Fund II. Valued at S$500,000, the sector-agnostic fund was launched in September 2023 and was contributed by Mr David Su, Founding Managing Partner of Matrix Partners China (MPCi). The investment serves as a testament to PV's vision of "by student, for student" to support frontier technologies that will benefit the community as a whole. (Please refer to the Annex 1 for a full list of PV portfolio companies.)

The investment in ESS, which offers cost-effective and environmentally-friendly space launches, demonstrates PV's strong commitment to backing sustainability-related and deep tech start-ups, which are forming a growing segment of PV's portfolio. Sustainability-related and deep tech start-ups currently comprise 20 per cent of those supported by SMU IIE's Business Innovations Generator, an incubation programme for early-stage founders.

This aligns with the trend demonstrated in the latest edition of SMU IIE's flagship Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition, one of the largest university-led start-up competitions in Asia with a mission to empower youths through innovation and entrepreneurship to create deep-tech solutions to solve urgent global challenges of the 21st century. In September 2023, the biannual competition saw 35 per cent of 1,000 submissions from global universities championing innovations in sustainability as they vied for prizes worth S$2.5 million.

This move also marks PV's inaugural space-tech investment, said Ms Yasi Huo, Senior Associate Director of SMU IIE. She said, "This first investment by our student venture capitalists into an eco-friendly space propulsion start-up is a significant milestone. It not only supports a groundbreaking venture that positions Singapore as a key player in the global space industry, but also demonstrates PV's continuing commitment to be at the forefront of trends and technology while championing innovations in sustainability."

Said Mr Simon Gwozdz, the CEO of the company, "The PV Team has been in the loop with Equatorial Space since our inception in 2017 and it's great to feature them as one of our trusted investors. PV had previously served as a launchpad for many successful stories in venture capital, and we look forward to working with the PV team to launch more - this time, literally and figuratively at once."

PV's journey to investing in ESS

In the seven years since its inception, PV has trained a total of 320 students as venture capital professionals, evaluated over 1,300 deals, aside from investing over S$300,000 in 12 student start-ups.

The student venture capitalist who was instrumental in the analysis and the evaluation of the ESS deal was PV analyst Ryan Teo, a second-year Accountancy student at SMU. He noted the experience of analysing and evaluating ESS offered a unique blend of practical experience, network building, and skill development.

"From sourcing this deal to presenting it to our Investment Committee, the journey has been both challenging and rewarding," he recalled. "It was through PV that I had the opportunity to speak with industry experts from deep-tech VCs to satellite operators and attend the Global Space Technology Convention & Exhibition, which significantly broadened my perspective on the entire space tech and deep-tech industry. This experience has inspired me to delve deeper into deep-tech R&D and explore the vibrant deep tech start-up ecosystem in Singapore."

Mr Bob Tan, who graduated with a Bachelor in Business Management from SMU in 2024, is a Managing Partner of PV, and a member of the Investment Committee. He said, "We were very impressed by Simon's passion for the space and his ability to execute - to put together a team with vast knowledge and experience and achieve their current milestones with the resources they have. We're excited to be backing Simon and his team on this journey."

Student-led start-ups who are interested in seeking investments from PV can visit https://protege.vc/get-funding.

Enclosure in PDF:

Annex 1 - List of Protégé Ventures portfolio companies

Annex 2 - About ESS

Annex 2: About Equatorial Space Systems

Founded in 2017, Equatorial Space Systems (ESS) is the only rocket propulsion company in Singapore, providing space access at reduced risk, cost, and environmental impact. In December 2020, the company successfully launched Southeast Asia's first commercially built prototype rocket test flight from Malaysia and it will begin orbital launch services in 2026. Its patent-pending eco-friendly technology is a fuel formulation known as "HRF-1" that can eliminate up to 90 per cent of costs and 69 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional liquid propulsion systems. HRF-1 is manufactured in Singapore and is also a safer option than other fuel formulations because of its non-explosive nature, which means that it can be stored and transported safely.

In December 2020, ESS successfully launched a Low Altitude Demonstrator prototype space rocket from Malaysia. In 2022, ESS created a rocket that was launched in Tamil Nadu by Indian aerospace company Space Zone India.

ESS is a member of the Singapore Space & Technology Ltd Space Accelerator and is one of the 60 companies in Singapore's nascent but fast-growing space ecosystem. ESS's innovation is addressing a rising global need for satellite constellations. These have become critical tools for solving major worldwide issues like improving healthcare, managing climate change, and fighting hunger, as the world seeks better access to resources and services. The global space launch services market stood at a value of around USD$19.32 billion in 2023 and is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.3 percent to attain a value of USD$69.74 billion by 2032.

The company's founders, Mr Simon Gwozdz and Mr Praveen Ganapathi Perumal, are alumni of the National University of Singapore. Mr Gwozdz, who graduated with a degree in Project and Facility Management in 2019, aspired to work in the space industry and is deeply passionate about rocket propulsion, orbital mechanics and spacecraft systems engineering. His co-founder Mr Perumal graduated with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 2015. Mr Gwordz is a Singaporean of Polish descent while Mr Perumal is a Singaporean PR. Both science and space enthusiasts first met each other at a career networking event in 2017 and decided to form ESS the same year.

About Singapore Management University (SMU)

Established in 2000, Singapore Management University (SMU) is recognised for its disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research that address issues of global relevance, impacting business, government, and society. Its distinctive education, incorporating innovative experiential learning, aims to nurture global citizens, entrepreneurs and change agents. With more than 13,000 students, SMU offers a wide range of bachelors, masters and PhD degree programmes in the disciplinary areas associated with six of its eight schools - Accountancy, Business, Economics, Computing, Law and Social Sciences. Its seventh school, the SMU College of Integrative Studies, offers a bachelor's degree programme in deep, integrative interdisciplinary education. The College of Graduate Research Studies, SMU's eight school, enhances integration and interdisciplinarity across the various SMU postgraduate research programmes that will enable our students to gain a holistic learning experience and well-grounded approach to their research. SMU also offers a growing number of executive development and continuing education programmes. Through its city campus, SMU focuses on making meaningful impact on Singapore and beyond through its partnerships with industry, policymakers and academic institutions. www.smu.edu.sg

About SMU IIE:

The Singapore Management University's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) is a practice-oriented institute that nurtures changemakers and founders who aspire to make the world a better place. To achieve this mission, IIE focuses on its three areas of competencies which include customising training programmes, offering an equity-free incubation programme, and fostering a cohesive innovation and entrepreneurship community through activities such as its marquee event - the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC). www.iie.smu.edu.sg

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Wong Sher Maine

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Christina Thung

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