Foundraising

ONGOING:
‍
- New investment round closing in July 2024 (Delayed)
Value 2 million Euros (Equity) + 500k Euros (Convertible)
Post-money valuation: 10 million Euros.
Investors: Earlybird (lead), CDP Venture Capital, and Plug and Play via Takeoff vehicle (follow on investment), TLI Space, Intesa SanPaolo (convertible loan).

- EIC Accelerator Horizon Europe
Value: Up to 2 million Euros grants + up to 15 million euros investment
Status: Ongoing proposal presentation
Timing: starts in December 2024, lasts 18 months

- ESA Incubed Project
Value: 2.3 million Euros with two subcontractors
Involve Space is the prime contractor with about 75% of the funds
Status: Ongoing proposal presentation
Timing: starts in 2025, lasts 18 months focusing on the delivery of a constellation of 3 perfectly interconnected stratospheric balloons

CLOSED:
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None

Marketing

Marketing strategies employed and planned for increased visibility and customer acquisition:

• 26th ESA Symposium on Balloon & Rocket Programmes Sponsorship
  ‍Luzern, Switzerland
  May 2024
  
  Involve Space supported the event as a sponsor, with the participation of CEO Jonathan and Head of Communication Matilda. The event was organised by European Space Agency and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
  
  Link of the event: https://atpi.eventsair.com/26th-esa-pac-symposium/
  
  ‍Thanks to this event, we had great networking opportunities both with space agencies and the industry, collecting new commercial opportunities specific related to stratospheric balloon missions.

• Organization of the second edition of LarioSpace
  
  ‍LarioSpace is an original event organised by Involve Space.
  
  In its first edition in 2023, we collected over 300 protagonists of the space industry and the event served a lot for our personal networking and to discover new customers and partners.
  
  LarioSpace 2024, set in the picturesque environs of Lake Como, offers a unique platform at the heart of the burgeoning space economy. Surrounded by satellite antennas that touch the skies, this conference not only connects participants to the latest in space innovation but also embeds them within an ecosystem brimming with technological advancements and industry leaders. Here, every moment is an opportunity to engage with ideas and technologies sculpting the future of space exploration and utilization.
  
  With a robust lineup of speakers and panelists, we put together over 500 people at the LarioSpace Centre by Telespazio near Lake Como.Thanks to the support of Italian Space Agency, Regione Lombardia, ENAC, and the participation of industry giants like Thales Alenia Space, Tesla, D-Orbit, Argotec.
  
  ‍For sure, LarioSpace 2024 was a great opportunity to know new people from the sector, and to find new clients and partners. The importance to invest money and time in this event is reflected in the enormous media impact we had, increasing our brand position on the market and the team credibility that is capable to organise an event of this magnitude even with a limited company size as a startup.
  
  We are so proud to share with you the official report of LarioSpace 2024 in italian language:
  LarioSpace-2024-Report.PDF

LarioSpace 2024 location from the drone

The main stage during speaker sessions

The team behind LarioSpace 2024. From left to the right: Serena Repossini (Administration and secretariat), Alice Fontana (Event Strategy), Matilda Galluzzo (Communication and presenter), Jonathan Polotto (Director and moderator), William Cecco (Operations), Claudio Piazzai (Involve Space booth manager).Not in this shot: Fabio Spadaro (Stage video direction), Daniele Aversa (Visual designer).

The exhibition path counting on 31 boots from companies and industry association.

Jonathan interviewing special guest Astronaut Paolo Nespoli.Standing ovation for this 1:30 hours chat on the stage.Jonathan had the opportunity to speak deeply with Paolo and make us friends.In fact, shortly afterwards Paolo visited us in the HQ and explored collaboration opportunities.

• Linkedin Live streaming for every launch
  ‍Starting from April, we are distributing a live streaming with operations in real-time on our site and Linkedin page, for each planned launch, to show clients and stakeholders the behind the scenes.
  
  In the last stream, we show the entire flight from the takeoff to the landing with a very high quality and very few signal interruptions, showing the balloon expanding reaching the apogee altitude and written telemetries in real time.

Hardware (Stratostats®)

Updates on the development and production of hardware, such as stratospheric balloons and other technological devices.
‍
1. Developed and tested a new landing system based on foam dampers
‍
From the last test, it came up that the dampers are not enough, so new dampers are needed or supporting springs have to be added. We though about a cushioning system, like a very soft donut below the gondola.

2. Integrated more safety systems in compliance with flight regulations:

• Implementation of a transponder for communication of the position with other aircraft:- ADS-B, is a means by which aircraft, airport vehicles, or other objects can automatically transmit and/or receive data such as identification, position, and depending on the cases other additional information, in a broadcast mode via Datalink)- FLARM is a electronic system used to selectively alert pilots of potential collisions between aircraft
• Implementation of a parachute release system as a backup landing system

3. Development of PCB wireless control system of a payload with super zoom optical camera for remote sensing (150x) and integration to OBCs:

4. Integrated new telecommunication system to allow real time remote sensing data transfer

5. Designed and manufactured new balloons made of romboidal shaped gores

6. Manufactured a new machine to help gores cut and spell

7. Designed and assembled new launch configuration

8. Manufactured a carbon fiber gondola in-house

Software

Report on the progress in the development of the software, including improvements and new features of Neurostar® and other related software.:
‍
Neurostar® AI software:

• Transition from a data resolution of 25 km lat/lon to one of 8 km lat/lon and a uniform altitude resolution of 1 km
• Improvement of the compressor simulator up to a study with a precision of 50 Pa
• Increase in AI computational performance for data exploration in the stratosphere
• Construction of a complex database architecture for long-term data storage and partial consultation during the training phase
• Addition of the elastic model of the material composing the balloon film
• Completion of the thermodynamic model based on the exact position of the sun
• Completion of the dynamic/thermodynamic/compression model of the compressor based on mission parameters and convex optimization
• Initiation of the design of Deep Learning Based algorithms for the creation of stratospheric data in super-resolution

Onboard computer software and Mission control software:

• Developed a new simulation tool to allow more accurate predictions about the balloon dynamics and trajectory
• Implemented a more efficient control law to control the platform based on AI predictions
• Improved the balloon design tool
• Upgraded flight monitoring dashboard adding new functionalities to help flight control and recoveries
• On board software bug fixes and security updates
• Dashboard bug fixes and security updates
• Reduced telemetry sending time
• Automatic control turning on based on platform altitude
• Flight simulation software integration for on ground tests
• Remote sensing control integration
• Video streaming service implementation
• New probe telemetries concerning OBC temperature, pressure, humidity, giroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer

General Achievements:

10 flight tests/commercial missions carried out last quarter whose results are:

• Developed and tested new launch procedures
• Tested romboidal gores balloons which can allow same performance of curve gores ones but easier manufacturing
• Tested new landing system
• Improved soft landing
• Performed high quality remote sensing missions
• Tested new telecommunication system and measured a 60 Mbps download and 30 Mbps upload velocities
• New launch configuration - comprehending multiple weights, a lift controller roll, multiple gas tanks adapter and telecommanded fast release - was utilized to improve launch operations

Remote sensing achievements

We are proud to announce that we have successfully transported our new Stratostats architecture to a maximum altitude of 21,000 meters in the stratosphere.

This achievement not only highlights the resilience and innovation that drive our team but also opens up new perspectives for the future of remote sensing. The new architecture and test included the integration of an innovative optical payload, allowing us to capture high-quality remote sensing images with a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 30 cm/pixel at 21,000 meters ASL (approximately 68,000 feet).

This represents a significant improvement over the average satellite imagery resolution, which stands at 5 meters/pixel, underscoring our ability to provide more detailed and accurate data for a wide range of applications.

Here’s an example of an interesting application we are discussing with clients: traffic and roads monitoring.

Close-up view
Witness the incredible clarity of our optical payload as it captures every detail of a truck on the highway from 21,000 meters above in the stratosphere. The precision and high resolution are unmatched, making every pixel count.

Medium view
Zooming out, the medium shot provides a broader perspective, yet retains the same impeccable clarity. This view showcases the versatility of our technology in traffic monitoring and infrastructure management.

Wide view
The widest shot captures a vast stretch of the highway, proving that even from the stratosphere, our payload delivers high-resolution imagery. Perfect for large-scale traffic analysis and environmental monitoring.

Human Resources

NEW HIRES:
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William Cecco
Balloons & Launch Operations Specialist
Full-time
Como, Italy (Involve Space Headquarters)
Responsible for balloon manufacturing and maintenance, gondola integration, labs management, launch ground operations, balloon launch and recovery

Mamadou Cisse
Balloons & Launch Operations Specialist
Full-time
Como, Italy (Involve Space Headquarters)
Responsible for balloon manufacturing and maintenance, gondola integration, labs management, launch ground operations, balloon launch and recovery.

Kevin Polotto
Strategy Content Creator
Internship
Como, Italy (Involve Space Headquarters)
Responsible for content creation about the behind the scenes of the company, according with the communication strategy directed by Matilda Galluzzo (Head of Communication)

Adrien Cyrille
Industrial Designer
Internship
Como, Italy (Involve Space Headquarters)
Responsible for gondolas, payload parts and spare parts modelling, design and prototipation

Ongoing hirings during Q2/Q3:
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Alastair Westgarth
Former CEO of project Google Loon
Chief Product Officer
Full-time
Hybrid: Como, Italy (Involve Space Headquarters) and California, USA
Responsible for managing the technical and commercial development of the company's main product, Stratostats, and its future variants and implementations such as LoonHive and Da Vinci Caelum.

Andrea Dalla Fini
Chief Financial Officer
Current CFO of Sony Europe, Former CFO in private equity funds
Full-time
Como, Italy (Involve Space Headquarters)
Responsible for financial strategy, budgeting, runway and burn rate management, investors exit strategy

Dismissal and resignations:
‍
Alice Fontana
Former Product designer
Status: resigned

Alice expressed her desire to undertake and build new paths and careers more in line with her path as a product designer. Over the last month, this detachment occurred progressively, reorganizing her tasks and reassigning them to other team members. Her contribution was fundamental both in the development and representation of the company externally. Alice leaves us an important legacy that her successor will take on with the same care and dedication. The term of the collaboration was amicable and agreed between both parties.

Daniel De Nardis
Former Finance manager
Status: fired

He did not demonstrate enough aptitude for startup work and was noticed several times for important tasks not being completed or for negligence on sensitive issues on which a financial manager must necessarily demonstrate precision and dedication.

Currently, the team consists of 14 people.

Tests and missions

Launch site: Arezzo, Tuscany

10 flight tests/commercial missions carried out last quarter on:

• AI maneuvers
• New subsystem integrations
• New balloons with new, more resistant material and a renovated manufacturing method, faster, giving a slimmer shape, named "diamond shape"
• New design of the ballast, now positioned externally, to recover internal space of the gondola
• New long test flight on balloon resistance

Overall, out of 10 missions, 7 missions were fully successful:
We want to mention the bests:

1. Full-load lifting test with all systems installed simultaneously, AI, and the largest balloon model built to date (20 meters high-20 meters diameter at apogee), 18.000 mt altitude, descent with soft landing.We performed AI manoeuvres using sand ballast to change the platform altitude, as shown in this video by the onboard camera:

2. Full-load lifting test with all systems installed simultaneously, AI, and the largest balloon model built to date (20 meters high-20 meters diameter at apogee), 21.000 mt altitude, descent with soft landing.We went live on Linkedin providing the streaming on the entire flight, from the takeoff to the landing, as you can see below:

Stream the live

3. Full-load lifting test with all systems installed simultaneously, AI, and the largest balloon model built to date (20 meters high-20 meters diameter at apogee), 21.000 mt altitude, descent with soft landing at a speed of about 4 m/s, as captured in the video below:

Fun fact and… balloon explosion

‍After the soft landing in a field, two farmers found the probe and, out of curiosity, moved it from the edge of the field where it had landed.Having moved it from the stable landing point, the wind began to blow again and pushed the balloon towards two high voltage cables.The two cables touched and… BOOM! The balloon exploded!The balloon was not recoverable and reusable, but the video is quite insane. However, all systems of Involve Space are safe and isolated, being both waterproof and fireproof. The balloon is the only component that can suffer irreversible damage. All missions are authorized and protected by insurance. Additionally, probabilistic calculations show a clear scenario where events like this occur only once in hundreds of launches.

4. Long-duration test with “Balloonzilla” to evaluate the stress and durability of the balloon, preparing us to manage longer flights. The payload was light, carrying only a GPS for tracking. The 24-hour flight culminated with a successful landing in Austria.

The flight path is displayed above, demonstrating the stability and control throughout the journey: