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Space Ventures Investors
Simon Drake and Kevin Mac Gowan founded Space Ventures Investors in 2014, anchoring the firm in Frankfurt with satellite offices in London and Paris.
Space Ventures Investors
Simon Drake and Kevin Mac Gowan founded Space Ventures Investors in 2014, anchoring the firm in Frankfurt with satellite offices in London and Paris. Drake arrived from marketing and investment-banking roles at Jefferies, Goldman Sachs, and Houlihan Lokey, while Mac Gowan brought decades of management consulting and marketing experience across Europe and the US. Together they built a low-cost, shareholder-driven vehicle explicitly for seed and growth-stage space companies. SVI deploys capital through early-stage equity investments, incubations, and joint ventures, concentrating on three verticals: operational earth observation, emerging launch systems, and lunar-resource exploration. The firm reports investments in several earth-observation startups and one launch company, alongside early-stage lunar lander, lunar-resource, and space-commodities ventures. Research drives sourcing: SVI's in-house Strategic Space Value Chain maps vertical growth, and the firm has conducted due diligence on hundreds of space startups across European and US networks. The next wave the firm tracks includes in-space servicing, debris mitigation, orbital data centers, and space-based solar power. SVI is managed by its two co-founders and includes Thomas Lazaridis, a former Thales Alenia Space veteran, as non-executive director. The team runs the portfolio from Frankfurt, London, and Paris, and has formed European Space Ventures AG to expand the platform. Simon Drake also operates the space-research sites Space Resources and Space Stocks and Space Funds, and runs the Lunar Resources Registry — a free online map of lunar landings. The firm lobbies governments and space agencies for larger exploration and resources budgets, functioning as an advocate alongside its investment activities. SVI differs structurally from most space-focused venture firms because it operates as a shareholder company, not a closed-end fund. Founders manage capital with one-to-one shareholder contact, and the firm can incubate and co-found businesses directly rather than solely writing cheques into third-party rounds. That architecture allows it to hold and build infrastructure-level space ventures without the fixed exit timelines of traditional fund structures.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2014
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Germany
City
Frankfurt am Main
Corporate office
Berger Str. 175, 60385 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Additional offices
London, United Kingdom · Paris, France
Principals
Simon Drake
Founding Partner, Managing Director
Kevin Mac Gowan
Founding Partner, Director
Thomas Lazaridis
Partner, Non-Executive Director
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Space Ventures Investors?
Founding Partners Simon Drake and Kevin Mac Gowan run the firm. Drake acts as Managing Director, handling day-to-day portfolio monitoring, partnership building, and joint-venture oversight, while Mac Gowan leads the network across Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France. Non-Executive Director Thomas Lazaridis, formerly of Thales Alenia Space, provides additional strategic and commercial input.
How does Space Ventures Investors source its space deals?
SVI sources through a proprietary research tool called the Strategic Space Value Chain, which maps and monitors the growth of space verticals. The team has conducted due diligence on hundreds of space startups over a decade and leverages deep networks in both European and US space ecosystems. The firm also uses one-on-one conversations, surveys, and feedback from space and tech investors to identify emerging opportunities.
Does Space Ventures Investors operate as a traditional venture capital fund?
No. SVI is a shareholder company, not a closed-end fund. Founders manage the capital directly with one-to-one shareholder contact. The model allows SVI to incubate and co-found businesses, hold them without fixed exit timelines, and allocate capital with more flexibility than a traditional 10-year fund structure.
What investment stages and structures does SVI target?
SVI focuses on early-stage seed and startup rounds, as well as growth-stage investments, and also pursues spin-offs and divestitures. The firm actively incubates and co-founds companies, and structures joint ventures — such as the Space Commodities Exchange and Lunar Resources Registry — to build infrastructure and resource-focused ventures alongside its equity portfolio.
Which space sectors does SVI explicitly focus on?
The firm concentrates on three core verticals: operational earth observation, emerging launch solutions, and lunar resources, including lunar landers and space commodities. Beyond its current portfolio, SVI is actively tracking and researching infrastructure-level operations such as space-based solar power, orbital servicing, space debris prevention, and orbiting data centres.
How does the Lunar Resources Registry fit into SVI's strategy?
The Lunar Resources Registry is an SVI-run initiative providing a free online map of lunar landings. It supports the firm's advocacy for increased government and agency spending on space exploration and resources, while simultaneously building a proprietary data asset that can inform investment and partnership decisions in lunar-resource ventures.
How is European Space Ventures AG related to Space Ventures Investors?
European Space Ventures AG was formed in 2023 by the founders of Space Ventures Investors as an expansion vehicle. Simon Drake serves as CEO of the new entity, which complements SVI's existing platform and extends its capacity to fund and develop space-focused businesses across Europe.
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