Open Sky Technologies Fund lands first close

The Open Sky Technologies Fund, which a Triangle spokesman confirmed has collected €15m so far, will invest in space-related technologies for terrestrial applications.

Frank Salzgeber, head of ESA's Technology Transfer and Programme Office, said, “Space is the ultimate frontier and it makes unsurpassed demands on whatever we do. Technologies that satisfy these demands are without a doubt the best that mankind can think of. The potential for terrestrial applications has been proven and that’s what we want to capitalise on.”

Technologies such as satellite TV, CAT Scans for medical imaging, and sat nav and GPS navigation systems have been widely adopted – and are all based on technologies developed for space, though also successfully deployed on earth. The fund will back early stage companies developing such technologies with the aim of commercialising them.

Dr Bernd Geiger, managing general partner at Triangle, has said that there is “great potential in approaching this huge pool of technologies in a structured way”.

Triangle has been investing in and building spin-offs from universities and research centres since 1997.

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