SpaceX IPO 'Seismic Event' for Space Industry: Will Whitehorn

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00:00We have a lot to get to. Seraphim, you know, an investor in all kinds of different space assets.

00:06And it's the space asset that I think is central to this SpaceX IPO story.

00:11My reporting is that they want to raise the capital for the SpaceX AI cluster, the SpaceX

00:18AI stack, space-based data center. Your reaction to that, Will?

00:23Well, I think that's probably right. And I think that this is a seismic event for the

00:29entire space industry. We're not going to see the like of this. I think it's going to cause

00:34huge changes to the companies that are suppliers to SpaceX, to the whole massive kind of environment

00:42that they've created, particularly in the United States and in the UK, some companies. There's a

00:48company in the UK called Filtronic, for example, which has become a major supplier to SpaceX.

00:54Many of the companies in the Seraphim portfolio, they launch on SpaceX rockets.

01:00Starlink has obviously, when you link Starlink to AI, to data centers, you are seeing an entire

01:09ecosystem of businesses growing up. And many other constellations will benefit from this.

01:14They'll be in orbit servicing, more data analytics coming out through the space industry.

01:20Space and AI will become interlinked in a way they've never been before. I mean,

01:25space really is going through a lot of change as it goes through this industrial revolution.

01:31Will, we're going to question, report on, react to wherever the valuation of this company settles.

01:38My reporting, again, is that the target, based on what they want to raise, the percentage of the

01:45company they offer, $1.5 trillion. But macro, this is an industry, private commercial space that's

01:53growing. What is Seraphim seeing? What are the numbers that you're tracking on how an industry is

01:58basically growing out of SpaceX's wake?

02:00Well, I'll give you an example. We've got one of the biggest companies in our portfolio, it's called

02:06IceEye, which has this very special kind of aperture radar. The demand for it has gone through the roof.

02:13IceEye's business plan has ended up being two years ahead of plan. They're in profit already,

02:18and they are just in the process of a very big fundraise. Other companies like Hawkeye 360,

02:25satellite view, all space, all of these companies in our portfolio are all doing very well and getting

02:33ahead of their business plans very rapidly because the demand for data from space is going through the

02:40roof for both climate change, defence, natural security, communications. I mean, everything is

02:46relying more and more on space. And of course, as people get scared about the underground and undersea

02:53cables that supply the internet, the demand for internet data from space is starting to rise as

02:58well in the fintech sector. So everything is happening all at once. The insurance companies

03:04want space data because they realise it's more accurate than ground-based data for agricultural

03:09assets, buildings, infrastructure projects. So you've got insurance demand, agricultural demand,

03:14climate change demand, and now defence demand is rocketing ahead since Ukraine and the Middle

03:20East happened over the last three years. And indeed, you know, I got an OBE today from Prince William,

03:27which is one of the first in the space industry, to show that even royalty are catching up. And

03:32he actually, one of the first things he asked me was what I thought was going on in the space industry

03:36at the moment from the UK. Okay, well, for our audience around the world outside of the UK,

03:42obviously I originate from the United Kingdom, an OBE, officer of the most excellent order of the

03:47British Empire. So congratulations to you, awarded to you this morning by Prince William. And I

03:53understand that you then ran to be here on the show and that actually Prince William may be tuning

03:59in and a fan of the show anyway. Appreciate that. That's true. That's very true.

04:03I believe in transparency on this programme. One thing that we should have done to start is,

04:09what is Seraphim's exposure to SpaceX? Have you any skin in the game?

04:14No, we don't have a stake in SpaceX. Only a couple of British investment trusts do have stakes,

04:22both of them Scottish based. Seraphim, when we started, it was too late to get into SpaceX at that

04:28time, which is a shame. But we have a lot of exposure to companies I think are going to really

04:34benefit from this huge ecosystem of new investment that SpaceX will create. And I'm looking personally

04:41at other companies that will benefit. And in fact, I bought a stake in one today, which I think will

04:46be a benefit. This will have, as I said, a seismic effect on an industry already undergoing an industrial

04:53revolution. It is going to be, you know, one for me as an old hand. I mean, I'm 65 now. And, you know,

05:01I was around in the days when the Netflix and the Netscape moment happened in 1995, which kicked off

05:08that range of Internet investment that we still see today. And I think that this is the space equivalent

05:16happening right now. Will, do you want to tell us what the company is that you invested in this morning?

05:23Musk? Well, Seraphim doesn't have a stake in it. It's a company called Filtronic.

05:28OK, OK. Let me ask this then. Let me ask this. You are 65 years old. Thank you for sharing that

05:35with our audience. Elon Musk is 54. He's committed to Tesla for 10 years. We just have 30 seconds. But

05:42is it realistic that this man leads two public companies at that scale for the long term?

05:49Well, this is going to be a big question around the IPO, obviously, of SpaceX. Is he going to spend

05:56more time on SpaceX with this size of fundraise? Or is he going to carry on in his Tesla environment as

06:02well? Both companies will be quoted. Both will be some of the biggest companies in the world.

06:07And you're quite right. This is going to be an issue that investors will look at very, very closely.

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