Private Markets Podcast, Fund Shack www.fund-shack.com
Space is no longer just about rockets, satellites and astronauts. In this episode, Ross Butler speaks with Mark Boggett, CEO and General Partner of Seraphim Space, about how SpaceTech is becoming a critical infrastructure layer for defence, communications, data, AI, energy and industrial activity.
Following the recent SpaceX IPO, many investors are being forced to develop a view on space. But as Mark explains, SpaceX is only one part of a much broader ecosystem. Launch and Starlink may dominate the headlines, but the wider opportunity includes Earth observation, satellite communications, orbital infrastructure, in-space servicing, data platforms, defence applications, AI-enabled analysis and even the early foundations of space-based energy and computing.
The conversation explores why defence is currently the main revenue engine for SpaceTech companies, particularly across dual-use technologies that serve both military and commercial markets. Mark explains how European governments are reassessing their dependence on US space capabilities, why Germany is becoming more active, and why the UK continues to produce strong SpaceTech start-ups while still facing a later-stage capital gap.
Ross and Mark also examine the commercial side of the market. AI is making satellite data easier to ingest, interpret and apply across industries. Falling launch costs, particularly through Starship, may change the economics of orbital infrastructure. That could make previously speculative ideas, such as orbital data centres, in-space manufacturing and solar energy generation, more plausible over time.
Mark also discusses Seraphim’s own investment model, from accelerator stage through to venture and listed growth capital. He explains why specialist knowledge matters in SpaceTech, why vertical integration can create powerful moats, and why permanent capital may be well suited to companies building the next layer of digital infrastructure in space.
In this episode:
- Why space is better understood as infrastructure than as a conventional sector
- Where the opportunity sits beyond SpaceX, Starlink and launch
- Why defence demand is accelerating revenues across dual-use SpaceTech
- How AI is changing the economics of satellite data
- Why falling launch costs could unlock orbital computing and manufacturing
- How orbital debris and in-space servicing are becoming investable markets
- Why Seraphim uses accelerator, venture and listed growth capital structures
Guest: Mark Boggett is CEO, General Partner and co-founder of Seraphim Space, an investment firm dedicated to the global SpaceTech market. He helped launch the world’s first venture-capital fund focused exclusively on SpaceTech in 2016.
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-boggett-5044631/
Seraphim’s platform spans an accelerator, early-stage venture capital and the London Stock Exchange-listed Seraphim Space Investment Trust, giving the firm exposure to businesses from formation through to growth stage.
🌐www.seraphim.vc
HostRoss Butler is the founder and host of Fund Shack. He has worked around private capital for 25 years as a journalist, policy adviser and consultant, and is the author of Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the Spoils of a Private Markets Revolution.
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/
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