Mark Matossian Launches Whipsmart Ventures to Back Series A Space Startups After $7.5 Billion Quarter
Updated
Updated · SpaceNews · Jul 25
Mark Matossian Launches Whipsmart Ventures to Back Series A Space Startups After $7.5 Billion Quarter
2 articles · Updated · SpaceNews · Jul 25
Summary
Whipsmart Ventures was co-founded earlier this year by Mark Matossian, Lylan Masterman and Judy Robinette to fund space and deep-tech startups at the Series A stage.
The fund is targeting the financing gap between seed and Series B, where startups often stall in the “Valley of Death” after proving technology but before reaching commercial scale.
Whipsmart plans to lead or co-lead rounds for companies with 10 to 20 employees, write larger checks, and often take board seats rather than spread many small investments.
Its seven focus areas include position, navigation and timing, robotics, real-time intelligence, sovereign and regional technology, orbital compute, distributed energy and affordable broadband.
The launch comes even as space technology companies raised $7.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026, underscoring that abundant sector funding still leaves mid-stage companies underserved.