The Seed Fund Incubator and the Angel, a New Disruptive Model for Fostering Innovation in the Commercial Space Sector
- Paper number
IAC-11,E6,3,9,x10677
- Author
Mr. Marc Boucher, SpaceRef, Canada
- Year
2011
- Abstract
If the commercial space sector is to expand it will need new ideas and new ways to fund these ideas. A new disruptive funding model developed in Silicon Valley by Y Combinator and SV Angel can be adopted with modifications by the commercial space sector in many countries thus fostering innovation. Traditionally government agencies have funded ideas though programs such as NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program or the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Technologies Development Program. However these programs have limitations on what can be proposed and generally don’t cater to startups. The model discussed here specifically targets two qualified groups annually of seed-stage startups and limits funding to less than \$20,000 over a three month incubator period. Typically many if not all of the startups selected to participate in the incubator program receive next stage Angel funding. The key is in how the incubator program is setup, administered and its qualification process.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)