Senior Government officials, leading banks, institutional investors and space tech CEOs met at the London Stock Exchange today to discuss the current investment challenges and how to help grow the UK Space economy into a world-leading sector.
The London Stock Exchange, in partnership with Seraphim Space, the global leader in SpaceTech financing and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology welcomed senior individuals from across the industry as part of a roundtable discussion. During which, they discussed how the UK can continue to accelerate investment into the space sector and the application of space technology and its solutions across different sectors of the UK economy.
The roundtable – which welcomed leading banks including Barclay’s, HSBC, Deutsche Numis, as well as the likes of PWC, BAE systems, UK Finance and some of the UK’s leading Space startup companies – also focused on making the UK an attractive place for future Space IPOs, as well as how corporate banking lending across all the UK street banks for SpaceTech could be unlocked with the help of government support. Attendees also discussed increasing the use of satellite data in the UK private sector.
With the global space economy reaching $546B this year, the new space economy is not just beginning it is already underway. The UK space industry accounts for £17.5 billion to the UK economy and currently employs over 48,000 people in many diverse and exciting roles from engineers, entrepreneurs, and scientists. In total, over $47bn of private capital has been invested across the global space sector since 2015, growing on average 21% per year. Countries across the world are already acting and investing to stake their place.
The recent Space Index by Seraphim Space revealed that in the last quarter, the UK was the success story of Europe, having almost doubled the total amount invested year on year to $326m[1]. Overall, UK investment increased by 22 per cent in Q3 compared to Q2 and globally, the UK has recorded the third-highest number of space deals in the past 12 months trailing behind only the US and China[2]. Space is a vital but somewhat misunderstood sector that is already disrupting every industry on our planet from finance to agriculture.
With its rich heritage in SpaceTech, manufacturing and financial services from the city of London, the UK has all the elements required to become a global leader in space financing, said the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation George Freeman MP.
George Freeman MP, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said: “Space is fundamental to our strategic geopolitical and growth missions. £11.7 billion has already been raised for UK space start-ups – it is a serious growth sector, with Seraphim leading the way.
“Regulation and finance are the big levers for helping to grow the space sector, by setting the standards and leveraging international regulatory leadership, we make the UK world leaders, and the City of London as the capital of the space industry.”
Mark Boggett, CEO at Seraphim Space, said: ” The space sector is undergoing a rapid, transformative change, creating a new generation of opportunities addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges from connectivity and the digital divide to global security and climate change. The Space sector continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. However, to secure the UK’s role as a space superpower and a global destination for space financing continued public, private and government support and investment is required. We are now reaching an inflexion point, and the UK must work to ensure it becomes the epicentre of the space economy, to help identify, support, and grow homegrown space businesses but to also finance the leading space companies of the future and attract global investment into Britain.”
Notes to Editors:
Seraphim Space Manager LLP (via SEC Newgate)
Mark Boggett, CEO / James Bruegger, CIO / Rob Desborough, Managing Partner / Leah Martin, Head of Marketing.
SEC Newgate (Communications advisers) seraphim@secnewgate.co.uk
Clotilde Gros / George Esmond +44 (0) 20 3757 6767
