Stoke Space Adds Former OpenAI Executive Kevin Weil to Board After Raising $1.34 Billion
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 8
Stoke Space Adds Former OpenAI Executive Kevin Weil to Board After Raising $1.34 Billion
1 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 8
Summary
Kevin Weil has joined Stoke Space’s board as the Seattle rocket startup pushes toward flying Nova, its fully reusable launch vehicle, after years as an investor and adviser to CEO Andy Lapsa.
Stoke says Weil helped the company navigate fundraising and Silicon Valley early on, support that fed into $1.34 billion raised so far, including a $510 million Series D in 2025.
Weil brings product, scaling and government ties from OpenAI, Planet Labs and the US Army Reserve, assets Stoke can use as military contracts and commercial launch demand become more important.
Nova aims for full, rapid reusability in a market still short of launch capacity, where Stoke is trying to challenge SpaceX and lower costs enough to unlock uses such as space-based data centers.
The appointment comes as Stoke nears an operational vehicle but still faces the core execution test of proving repeated rocket reuse, a feat no company has yet fully achieved.