E2MC – The Final Investment Frontier

People

RAPHAEL ROETTGEN, CFA

Founding Partner

RAPHAEL ROETTGEN, CFA

Raphael Roettgen, CFA FRM, is the founding partner of E2MC Ventures. He lectures on space entrepreneurship and finance at several universities including the International Space University and the Swiss Institute of Technology, hosts the Space Business Podcast, and is the author of “To Infinity”, an introductory book on space business. Previously, he held senior roles at global investment banks and hedge funds and was also a fintech entrepreneur in Brazil. He holds degrees in finance from Wharton, machine learning from PUC-Rio and space studies from the International Space University, where he also serves as a governing member.

RAGHU DAS

Partner

RAGHU DAS

Raghu is an established serial entrepreneur in the technology and satellite space industry. He co-founded Bermuda-based Protostar Limited that owned and operated two GEO satellites sold to Intelsat and SES. He established Australian-based Sirion Global and its successor HeliosWire which was acquired by EchoStar. He was the architect behind Ramaspace, a Luxembourg based company engaged in space mining exploration. Raghu previously held several key management positions with Loral Space & Communications.

PETER RUDERMAN

Partner

PETER RUDERMAN

Peter is a lawyer and startup entrepreneur who has focused on the pan-Asian and US satellite and communications sectors for over 20 years. He was General Counsel for many satellite operators and hardware integrators including Loral CyberStar, ProtoStar Ltd., Astro Digital (US), and, most recently, Helios Wire, an S-band IOT operator that he co-founded and which was acquired by EchoStar in 2019. Peter also served as a consultant on various space projects for Space Systems/Loral, Telesat Canada, The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, GlobeCast Asia, and Direct Kinetic Solutions. Peter is a graduate of Grinnell College (BA) and The Columbia University School of Law (JD).

BRANDON KORTOKRAX

Senior Associate

BRANDON KORTOKRAX

Brandon is a former MBA Venture Associate and Moonshots Capital, and holds an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

MARIANNA KOUKA

Venture Fellow

MARIANNA KOUKA

Marianna brings over 5 years of experience in the maritime transportation industry, with expertise in asset management, business development, venture building & investing, and corporate strategy. A graduate of Columbia Business School, NYU, and Harvard University, her diverse academic background and industry expertise position her to drive innovation and strategic growth across sectors. Marianna is passionate about empowering companies to reach their full potential by creating long-term value and driving impactful change.

VICTORIA SAAD MARTIRE

Intern

VICTORIA SAAD MARTIRE

Victoria is a Senior at University of California Berkeley in Economics and Data Science

GUILLERMO SOEHNLEIN

Executive-in-Residence

GUILLERMO SOEHNLEIN

Guillermo has almost twenty years of experience in New Space, incl. as founder of Space Angels. He was also a co-founder of Ansible (now RBC Signals), a global ground station network for small satcom, and of Blue Marble Exploration, an ocean exploration company.

SOYEON YI, PhD

Advisor

SOYEON YI, PhD

Dr. Soyeon Yi is South Korea’s first and only astronaut. She was selected as an astronaut in December 2006, out of 36,000 contestants. On April 8, 2008, she launched into space on-board Soyuz TMA-12. During her 11-day mission at the International Space Station (ISS), Dr. Yi completed an aggressive number of experiments contributing to South Korea’s science textbooks and science channel television lectures.

Dr. Yi received her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering(2001), Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering(2002), and her Ph.D. in BioSystems(2008) from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology). In May 2014, Dr. Yi received her MBA with emphasis on Technology and Global Leadership at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Yi has been working with various startups as an engineer and entrepreneur. Currently, Dr. Yi is working with Biotechnology startup, Noul Co., Ltd. as the Managing Director, Business Development and Partnership. Dr. Yi is passionate about nurturing the next generation of leaders in the STEM field.

PROF. SIGRID ELSCHOT, PhD

Advisor

PROF. SIGRID ELSCHOT, PhD

Sigrid Elschot is a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and leads the Space Environment and Satellite Systems laboratory. She studies the space environment and its effects on both the Earth and on spacecraft with a focus on the plasma formed from impacts of meteoroids and debris. Prof. Elschot is the recipient of the NSF CAREER award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and a Department of Energy Early Career Research award. She was selected as a NIAC fellow for her research on impacts on asteroids as well as on for exploring Uranus using CubeSats and has also served on National Academy panels on mitigating near-Earth objects and assessing NASA’s meteoroid and orbital debris programs. Prof. Elschot has co-hosted the National Geographic Channel’s Known Universe series and has appeared in multiple episodes of Nova. Prior to coming to Stanford, Sigrid was a project lead at the Los Alamos National Laboratory developing RF technology for spacecraft to monitor the ground for electromagnetic pulses, and previously at MIT Lincoln Laboratory working in air defense technology and space situational awareness.

ANDERS JOHNSON

Advisor

ANDERS JOHNSON

Mr. Johnson was preciously Chief Strategy Officer of EchoStar and President of EchoStar Satellite Services L.L.C. Before joining EchoStar, Mr. Johnson was at SES World Skies where he served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Satellite Development. Mr. Johnson joined SES GLOBAL after the combination of GE Americom and SES GLOBAL in 2001. Prior to SES GLOBAL, Mr. Johnson worked at GE Capital beginning in 1985 in a variety of executive level roles in Satellite Services, Aviation Services and Transportation & Industrial Financing.

CAROLINA ALARCO

Advisor

CAROLINA ALARCO

Carolina is a senior biotech executive with more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry in the Boston-Cambridge ecosystem. She is the Founder and Principal at Bio Strategy Advisors, a strategic business consulting firm. Previously, she was a Vice-President at Genzyme Corporation where she spent 15 years in progressive leadership roles. After that, she was President at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals and then President at Novelion Therapeutics, until their respective exits. Both were commercial-stage, publicly-traded Biotech companies. She currently serves on the boards of several companies as well as the boards of Mass General Hospital and MassBio, among other roles. Carolina has been featured in the Boston Business Journal’s Women Who Lead in the Life Sciences (October 2023), among other recognitions. She holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Lima and a Graduate Degree in Business and Management from Harvard University.

JUSTIN KARL, PhD

Technical Advisor

JUSTIN KARL, PhD

Dr. Karl previously served as CTO of Firehawk Aerospace and as a Subsystem Manager for the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) at NASA, where he supported Orion, the International Space Station, and the Launch Services Program. He is an expert on a range of space subjects, incl. human spaceflight, propulsion, remote sensing, materials, structural mechanics and others. He teaches core aerospace courses at UCF and developed the curriculum for the world’s first Spaceflight Operations degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

KELLI RODRIGUES

Executive Assistant

KELLI RODRIGUES

Kelli is an experienced office manager and has worked as Raphael’s assistant for over ten years.

Space - The Final Investment Frontier

Our Mission

Investment

Investment thesis

Key criteria

Investment thesis

Key criteria

Portfolio

Our Expertise

People

Podcast

Space is rapidly growing into an exciting ecosystem for business. In this podcast, E2MC's Raphael Roettgen interviews entrepreneurs, executives, investors and others about the many opportunities that exist.

Contact

We are based in the U.S., but invest globally.

Space - The Final Investment Frontier

Our Mission

Investment

Investment thesis

Key criteria

Investment thesis

Key criteria

Portfolio

Our Expertise

People

Podcast

Space is rapidly growing into an exciting ecosystem for business. In this podcast, E2MC's Raphael Roettgen interviews entrepreneurs, executives, investors and others about the many opportunities that exist.

Contact

We are based in the U.S., but invest globally.

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