#49: Inside the Mind of a Space Engineer Turned VC (feat. Koen Geurts, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF)

He helped land a spacecraft on a comet. Now, he decides which space startups get funded.

Koen Geurts went from operating one of ESA’s most iconic missions to becoming a Senior Investment Manager at HTGF - one of Germany’s most active early-stage investors.

In this episode, we cover:

• What it’s really like to land on a comet (and bounce multiple times)

• The transition from space engineer to VC

• How HTGF thinks about early-stage space investments

• Where Europe is falling behind - and where it can win

• Contrarian bets (like propulsion) vs overhyped ideas (like space data centers)

• Why government contracts are critical for scaling New Space companies

A rare inside look at both engineering and capital within the space ecosystem.

Follow Koen & HTGF:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kgeurts?originalSubdomain=dehttps://www.linkedin.com/company/high-tech-gruenderfonds/https://www.htgf.de/en/venture-capital-investor-2/

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This podcast is sponsored by LiveEO. For more information on how Earth observation can help your company, contact:

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