# Nasa Ventures

Nasa Ventures is a Venture Capital based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Amsterdam, Netherlands
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** Amsterdam, Netherlands
- **Founded:** 2013
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** nasaventures.vc

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Nasa Ventures is a venture capital firm owned by Navanti Holdings and Sapien Ventures, based in Sydney, Australia. The firm has made one investment, in Waku, as part of a Seed VC round on October 06, 2022. Nasa Ventures has one portfolio exit, Waku, which occurred on May 06, 2025.

## Sectors

- SpaceTech
- AI/ML
- Robotics & Automation
- Mobility & Transportation
- Enterprise Software
- ClimateTech
- Industrial Tech

## People

- Arjan van den Born — Managing Partner
- Sabrina van der Sloot — Partner

## Questions

### What does Nasa Ventures invest in, and what does the name actually mean?

Nasa Ventures finances pre-seed and seed-stage European startups working with space-based data, Earth observation, satellite communications, and autonomous systems like drones and inspection robots. The name comes from the Dutch word 'nasa,' meaning a carrying basket — a reference to technologies that collect and transport data from orbit or remote environments — not the US space agency. The firm was founded in Amsterdam in 2013 by Arjan van den Born and Sabrina van der Sloot, and it writes initial checks between €200,000 and €1.5 million.

### Does Nasa Ventures participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

The firm makes direct equity investments only — it does not operate as a fund-of-funds or write checks into other VC vehicles. Nasa Ventures co-invests alongside other European seed funds and occasionally alongside startups graduating from ESA Business Incubation Centres, but all capital goes directly into portfolio companies.

### How is Nasa Ventures related to the European Space Agency?

Nasa Ventures has no formal structural relationship with the European Space Agency, but it operates in close thematic proximity. Several portfolio companies have ESA backing or incubation history, and Managing Partner Arjan van den Born has described the firm's role as bridging ESA-funded research prototypes to commercially viable venture-backed businesses. The firm leverages technical due-diligence networks within the European space ecosystem without institutional affiliation.

### Which sectors or company types does Nasa Ventures explicitly avoid?

The firm avoids pure SaaS companies that do not originate their own data from space-based sensors, autonomous vehicles, or edge devices operating outside conventional IT infrastructure. It also avoids consumer internet and enterprise tools that merely repackage third-party data. This exclusion creates a portfolio that coheres around data-provenance underwriting rather than broad sector momentum.

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- [MKD Electric](https://altss.com/profile/mkd-electric)
- [FireHydrant](https://altss.com/profile/firehydrant)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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