Jonathan Lacoste / Space VC

Jonathan Lacoste is the Founder and Solo GP of Space VC, a frontier tech fund investing in “space for earth” companies.

Space VC launched in 2021, a year and a half before Andreessen announced their $500 million American Dynamism fund. By the time frontier tech became hot, Jonathan had already backed defense hypersonics, thermal energy, and space infrastructure.

But the name misleads. “Space is just a physical location that can serve as an extension of our technology stack,” Jonathan explains. Not exploration. Infrastructure that makes life on Earth better. Starlink. GPS. Technology that happens to use space but solves problems here.

Our conversation gets into why the thesis extends beyond space. Jonathan spends 90% of his time now on energy, grid infrastructure, and robotics. These are infrastructure plays at the intersection of digital and physical.

Jonathan doesn’t wait for traction. He finds founders before they start the company and writes the first check. “When we met Bryon Hargis, who came from SpaceX, it was instant. He was the person to attack hypersonics manufacturing.”

Full episode below, or on Spotify / Apple Podcasts