Recently, the satellite industry experienced sustained investments in new systems and private equity activity that has been focused on some of the larger players. As the “New Space” satellite segment continues to mature, capital market expectations will reflect a variety of changing dynamics. While corporate leadership, market growth and potential all play significant roles, what actions will be featured most prominently in each stage of organizational development? Executives from venture funds, private equity firms and commercial banks will share their views on satellite systems financing. The expected returns, financing terms and prospects for the short to middle term will be discussed.
Jason Rainbow
Jason Rainbow is Group Editor-in-Chief of Finance Information Group, which provides perspective and information on M&A, financing, and corporate strategy through investment conferences, and unique financial publications including Transaction Advisors, SatelliteFinance, and Connectivity Business (formerly TelecomFinance). Previously, Jason was Editor for SatelliteFinance, and has covered the UK, Ireland and Nordic regions for TelecomFinance. Before that he wrote financial news digests for Reuters, covering small-cap UK companies as well as wider macroeconomic issues.
Mike Collett
Mike Collett is Founder and Managing Partner of Promus Ventures in Chicago. Mike previously was Founder and Managing Partner of Masters Capital Nanotechnology Fund and also on the Technology Equity team with Masters Capital, a hedge fund. Mike was Vice President at Merrill Lynch in the M&A Group as well as an Associate in M&A Division with Duff & Phelps. Mike has invested in over 60 software/hardware startups and is currently on the board of Spire, Layer, Kurbo Health, Gauss Surgical, Dispatch, Enview, FirstLine, and Daylight Solutions. Mike received his BS in Math and a BA in English from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Mike and his wife Paige have four children and live in Chicago.
Sunil Nagaraj
Sunil Nagaraj is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ubiquity Ventures, a seed-stage institutional venture capital firm that invests in “software beyond the screen” startups, primarily around smart hardware and machine intelligence applications.
He currently serves on the boards of Esper, Halter, Jargon, Levl, Parallel Domain, and other undisclosed investments.
Prior to founding Ubiquity Ventures, Sunil spent six years as an investor with Bessemer Venture Partners where his work included investments in Auth0, Defense.Net (acquired by F5 Networks), Rocket Lab, Spire, Tile, Twitch (acquired by Amazon), and Zapier. Before being an investor, Sunil was founder/CEO of Triangulate, a VC-backed online dating startup using machine learning and behavioral data to improve accuracy. He has also worked at Bain & Company, Cisco, and Microsoft.
Sunil holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves on several non-profit boards: NextGen Partners (a Bay Area VC networking organization), Computer History Museum NextGen Board, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the Harvard Business School California Research Center. He is also an Alumni Advisor to the Harvard MS/MBA program. In his free time, he enjoys coding, piano, sailing, stargazing, and family time with his wife and 2-year old daughter.
John Stack
John Stack, Managing Director, Head of Aerospace & Defense Investment Banking (US), has 25 years’ global strategy, business development and M&A experience focusing on publicly-held and private companies.
Mr. Stack previously was VP, Strategy & Business Development and a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Cessna Aircraft Company, where he led the Columbia Aircraft acquisition. Prior to that, he was Director, Strategy Development & International at Textron, where he helped reshape the company’s business portfolio and worked with company presidents on strategic plans, operational challenges and growth. During his career, he has led project, M&A and joint venture teams in more than 15 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and he lived in Switzerland for more than four years.
Mr. Stack holds a degree in Business Administration from Bryant University and an MBA from Fordham University. He is a commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He also is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and proficient in French.
Matt Trotter
Matt Trotter, managing director at Silicon Valley Bank San Francisco, works with high growth companies that create highly disruptive technologies in the businesses of transportation, industrials, aerospace, consumer electronics, and semiconductors, with a focus on the convergence of hardware, software, and data.
Matt is passionate about his customers’ success, and it shows in the capital, connections and strategic counsel he provides to support their growth in hardware and deep technology – some of the most competitive business environments in the world.
Matt is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, where he played varsity soccer. Matt’s active young daughter keeps him and his family busy but he still finds time to kick the ball around in a Sunday men’s league.