Michael Jones joins Seraphim Space
Michael (right) is widely recognised as a leading authority on the commercialisation of earth observation data gathered by satellites. As inventor of Clip Mapping and cofounder/CTO of Keyhole Corporation – which Google acquired in 2004 – Michael shepherded the technology that would go on to become Google Earth. He subsequently spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles at Google with billion-user products as CTO of Google Maps, Google Earth, and Local Search.
Seraphim Space is a new £80m ($110m) venture fund launching next quarter to invest in innovative emerging technology businesses taking advantage of the radical changes that are currently redefining the satellite / space sector. With satellites getting smaller, smarter and less expensive to launch, applications enabled by satellite data are set to grow exponentially, encompassing everything from the apps on your smartphone, to drones, driverless cars and the Internet of Things.
Backed by smart capital from the likes of Airbus and Thales, Seraphim Space will invest in both downstream (software), and upstream (hardware) ‘New Space’ opportunities, along with technologies which rely on satellite data such as drones and the Internet of Things, or which have potential space applications such as artificial intelligence, robotics and nanomaterials.
Seraphim partner Mark Boggett said: “Michael adds further heavyweight experience to our advisory board that already includes senior executives from some of the world’s biggest and most innovative space companies. Michael has unparalleled experience of developing products that leverage earth observation data, and scaling them to billions of users. The fusion of such satellite data for terrestrial applications is a key area of investment focus for our new space-tech fund and so Michael’s expertise will be a tremendous asset to our fund and the entrepreneurs we back.”
Michael says “I’m delighted to be joining Seraphim Space’s advisory board at a time of profound change within the space sector. The needs of society are challenging space industries to harness low cost, rich data from satellite imaging and sensing to develop hitherto unimagined applications back on Earth. From Google Earth onward, we see the ripple effect of this in the disruption of many different verticals. I believe we will see the emergence of a new generation of category-defining businesses built from the proliferation of these new forms of low cost satellite data, and look forward to supporting the Seraphim team in their efforts to invest in and help build the best of these companies into global successes.”
Seraphim is a UK-based venture capital firm that invests in IP-led businesses that have the potential to redefine large existing markets or create entirely new ones.
Seraphim Space is a targeted £80m venture fund launching in 2016 focused on the fusion of terrestrial technology and space applications. It is backed by smart capital from seven of the world's leading space companies: Airbus, Thales Alenia, Avanti Communications, Surrey Satellite Technology, Telespazio, Com Dev and e2v. The fund is also supported by the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency.