Alphabet’s GV backs fintech firm Nebex that aims to serve as space industry broker

[WASHINGTON] Alphabet’s venture arm GV – formerly known as Google Ventures – led a funding round to provide US$30 million in seed money to a fledgling space fintech company founded by Axiom Space’s former chief executive officer Tejpaul Bhatia. 

The startup, called Nebex, will serve as an online platform to connect US space companies selling their technology, foreign governments looking to build and buy space capabilities and investors hoping to finance transactions in the sector.

The company will then take a fee from any deals agreed to on the platform. 

The plan, Bhatia said in an interview, is for Nebex to serve as a broker that can match these three parties together – supply, demand and capital – to open up new revenue sources for space companies and enable greater global cooperation in the industry. 

“The cross-border friction when it comes to payments between countries and companies is really complex, and that’s what we’re solving for,” Bhatia, who is not putting his own money into the venture at this time, said. 

International trade for the American space industry has long been difficult to navigate because many companies work closely with the US government and are therefore subject to strict regulations due to national security concerns. 

Nebex would not be changing the way companies and governments do business or navigate compliance issues, according to Bhatia.

Instead, it aims to facilitate large-enough deals that make doing international business profitable, even with hurdles like import and export restrictions, tariffs and procurement rules. 

The company’s other investors include Eniac Ventures, 2048 Ventures and Better Tomorrow Ventures. GV has also invested in Robinhood, ClassPass and Slack. 

SEE ALSO

The big ambitions of China’s private space industry

Singapore to establish national space agency NSAS under MTI

As the West explores new frontiers, South-east Asia is looking back down at Earth from space

Singapore investors see SpaceX investment as a long-term bet on the future of the space economy

Sustainability is Singapore’s edge in the space-tech economy

More

Nebex, which has not yet launched its official platform, is targeting deals sized around US$100 million or more and has established an initial banking relationship with JPMorgan Chase. 

Bhatia is currently in talks with potential partners to join the platform, including international space agencies and institutional investors, many of which he said are eager to get involved in the sector following the successful initial public offering of SpaceX on Jun 11 that raised US$75 billion.

Nebex is expected to release a preliminary version of its site later this summer, followed by a formal launch by the end of 2026.

At Axiom Space, Bhatia helped oversee private astronaut missions to the International Space Station under a Nasa program that allows companies to send their own crews to the orbiting laboratory.

At Nebex, Bhatia is joined by two of his former Axiom Space colleagues, Anand Subramanian and Manlio Di Stefano, who previously served as chief growth officer and director of international markets at the space company, respectively. 

Before joining Axiom, Bhatia had stints at Alphabet’s Google and Citigroup. Prior to that, he founded and held executive positions at other startups. BLOOMBERG