E2MC Fund Profile: Venture Capital for Space

Meet E2MC, a new venture capital firm launching with help from the VC Lab venture capital accelerator. E2MC invests in space startups at the seed stage, mostly in Europe and Israel. The fund is based on the success of the managers, including Raphael Roettgen, in funding, advising and founding space companies.

Here is our interview with Mr. Roettgen.

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QUESTION 1: What did you study in school, and what were you doing before you entered the world of venture capital?

I spent a lot of time in schools, as I love learning. I have degrees in Finance and Psychology from UPenn, in Machine Learning from PUC-Rio and in Space Studies from the International Space University (ISU). I worked many years in the global financial markets, first in M&A and then mostly in investing through banks and hedge funds. I also had a stint as a fintech entrepreneur in Brazil.

QUESTION 2: Why are you inspired to be working in the field of venture capital and what most excites you about being an investor?

Venture capital is about helping to create new things, not only new products and services, but also new companies, new jobs and sometimes new industries. To be able to help in that act of creation many times by virtue of being a venture capitalist is an absolute privilege and very fulfilling.

QUESTION 3: What are the most important attributes that you look for in an entrepreneur when evaluating them for investment?

True passion for the vision that the entrepreneur is trying to turn into a reality. I look for that elusive combination of sufficient humility to be able to accept advice and pivot if necessary while also having sufficient conviction to stay their course and execute.

QUESTION 4: How has having a positive impact and the Mensarius Oath affected the work that you are doing in venture capital?

Having a positive impact is one key motivation why I am in venture capital and also why I focus on the space sector. Space offers many technologies that can benefit humanity, whether satellite communications to bring education to more people, remote sensing for things like precision agriculture or climate monitoring, or better medical products we may soon produce in space.

QUESTION 5: In what ways has the VC Lab program and community helped you to develop your fund?

The structure of the program surely helps with disciplined execution of a fund setup. However, even more significant is probably the community, all guided by the Mensarius Oath, sharing knowledge and helping each other.

Are there any other updates that you want to share about your new fund or ask of the readers?

We also do a lot of outreach and education about space, since we think the sector could have such an important positive impact on humanity. Yet, most people have not been exposed to the details of all the exciting things happening. So, if you are curious about space, reach out to us and we will try to point you to a few resources in order to hopefully get you excited about space, too, and involved in our community.