AIN Ventures

?????? Proteus Space Achieves Breakthrough in Automated High-Fidelity Structural Design, Signs First Commercial Payload Customer and Secures Oversubscribed $6.1M Seed-2 Funding Round Our automated computational engineering system, MERCURY?, just slashed custom satellite frame/structural design from 12+ labor months to under 1 week—a more than 48x cost and schedule reduction — replacing human NRE with compute - and passing launch loads testing on the first try! We’ve also secured our first commercial payload customer for MERCURY ONE (launching in Oct 2025) - and - we secured $6.1M in an oversubscribed seed-2 round led by Lavrock Ventures with participation from SAIC, The Veteran Fund, Crosscut Ventures, Moonshots Capital, Mana Ventures Academy Investor Network & the Capital Factory. Want to know more?: https://lnkd.in/gPw7p9Ky See you at the launchpad in Oct. ...THE FUTURE IS FASTER? Lavrock Ventures Moonshots Capital The Veteran Fund Academy Investor Network Mana Ventures Capital Factory Industrious Ventures Crosscut Ventures SAIC Craig Cummings Kelly Perdew Steve Smoot Michael Hauser Katie Swanson Brian Garrett Daniel Bock Mike Sherbakov Ryan Micheletti Sherman Williams II Emily McMahan Honorable James Geurts Kim Crider Thomas Cooley Douglas Dreyer Joseph Frankino John Gass Tom Lash & Dr. Stephen Robinson, our incredible employees, teammates, suppliers, partners and customers, and many more, thank you! #space #satellites #custombussatellites #spacevehicles #computationalengineering #rapidspace #tacrs #thefutureisfaster #TFIF #payloadevolution #fastorbit #leo #meo #geo #heo #digitalengineering #digitalmodels #automation #ai

We're excited to announce AIN Ventures' strategic investment in NOVI, a company transforming Earth Observation through space-edge processing and AI. Following their successful deployment of the SP240 On-Board Computer in orbit, NOVI is transforming how satellite data is processed, making Earth Observation services more accessible and actionable across defense, agriculture, and disaster response applications. This investment, in collaboration with VIPC | Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation and its Virginia Invests fund of funds initiative, underscores our commitment to fueling innovation/growth in Virginia's startup ecosystem. Congratulations Michael Bartholomeusz Amit Mehra Scott Steffan https://lnkd.in/eWYUdb5x

Executive Summary: AdvancingVC w/Courtney Russell McCrea: From Kauffman Fellows to Empowering Emerging Managers at Recast Capital I interviewed Courtney Russell McCrea, co-founder and managing partner of Recast Capital, for an episode of our AdvancingVC podcast. With over two decades of venture capital and private equity experience, Courtney brings invaluable insights into funds investing and supporting diverse emerging managers. Here are some key takeaways from the pod ?? ?? Journey to Recast: Starting as one of the early Kauffman Fellows, Courtney's path led through Western Presidio and Weathergage Capital, where she invested in 100 venture funds and over $1B in commitments before co-founding Recast Capital in 2020 to focus exclusively on emerging managers. ?? Emerging Manager Focus: Courtney emphasized how early-stage funds (institutional funds 1-4) consistently appear in the top 10 performing venture funds, highlighting how hungry, scrappy emerging managers can drive outstanding returns when adequately selected. ?? Three-Pillar Approach: Recast's platform includes a fund of funds investing directly in emerging managers, tuition-free educational programming, and a fiscally-sponsored nonprofit supporting female led venture funds with reducing their operating expenses by providing $100K grants. ?? Industry Evolution: Courtney shared fascinating insights about the bifurcation of venture capital. Multi-billion dollar platforms focus on safety and consistent returns, while emerging managers pursue outsized returns through focused strategies. ?? Diverse Teams: Drawing from extensive experience, Courtney highlighted how diverse partnerships make better decisions and bring different networks and perspectives that drive outperformance in the competitive venture landscape. If you're interested in emerging managers, fund of funds investing, or creating a more diverse and inclusive VC ecosystem, then this episode has invaluable insights from one of the industry's most experienced investors. We have some fantastic episodes we'll be releasing in the future. Here are some of the guests in our future episodes: ??Ned McGuire of Wilshire ??Lyon Wong of V0 ??Henry Ward of Carta ??Renata Aráuz-DeStefano of Pivotal Ventures ?Comment below or message me if you have feedback or suggestions for future guests!?? #Podcast #VentureCapital #EmergingManagers #AdvancingVC

This month, we had the pleasure of co-hosting "Space Ships & Space Chips" at Newlab Brooklyn, bringing together space tech founders, investors, and enthusiasts from across NYC to delve into the industry's expanding opportunities. The evening featured a fireside chat with Amit Mehra from AIN Ventures portfolio company NOVI, Grant Blaisdell from Copernic Space, and Muhammad Hunain Melagen Labs, moderated by Newlab’s Prad Parthiban. Attendees also had the chance to explore an art gallery exhibit showcasing the work of Ashley Zelinskie, an artist collaborating with NASA, and wrapped up the evening with networking. A heartfelt thank you to our co-hosts,?Empire Space,?Newlab, and?Alumni Ventures,?for making the event a success.

Document repositories hold critical insights that drive multimillion- dollar decisions in energy, healthcare, and government. Our latest analysis shows how leading organizations are turning decades of technical documentation into strategic assets, cutting processing time while strengthening compliance and decision-making capabilities.

Solideon's founder and CEO, Oluseun Taiwo spoke?at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and?Resilience Media's "The Future of Defense Tech Manufacturing & Innovation" event at?the Munich Security Conference. In particular, he highlighted the need to bring adaptive and responsive mass back to the battlefield and how Solideon enables our customers to deliver effects and capability in real-time. Reach?out to us to learn more! We couldn't do any of this without the support of our amazing investors: 8090 Industries Offset Ventures Stellar Ventures Boost VC 1517 Fund 10x Founders and many more!

?? Big news ?? ClimateAi is happy to announce the appointment of Will Kletter as Chief Operating Officer at ClimateAi. As COO, Will will lead the company’s global operations, customer teams and strategy, driving our mission to help the Agriculture, Food & Beverage industries build supply chain resilience by anticipating risks and adapting to a changing climate. Join us in congratulating Will as he steps into this new role! ?? Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gpsTUrKd

Exciting news at Bright Uro ! We’re delighted to announce that Dr. Scott MacDiarmid, globally-renowned expert on urodynamics, has joined Bright Uro in the role of Chief Medical Officer. He brings deep knowledge of urodynamic science as well as an understanding of critical clinical and practical requirements. ? Wait! There’s more... The Commercial Leadership Team is on board and laying the foundation to propel us forward.??We're very fortunate to have this amazing group join the Bright Uro team. Good things ahead!? Chris Runkle, MBA Casey Kanel Jim Monacelli Ben Abramowitz Kristen Comstock Read all about it:https://lnkd.in/gDEa39Jj CAUTION: The Glean Urodynamics System is pending 510(k) and is not available for sale within the United States. #urodynamics #brighturo #urology

A few pictures from when Inversion's Ray launched to space last month. An amazing day for the whole Inversion team! Ray remains healthy and on track with it's mission!

I’m happy to share that I’ll be supporting AIN Ventures in Platform & Ecosystem Growth, helping to build and scale our impact beyond capital. ?? AIN Ventures is committed to empowering founders with not just funding, but also the strategic support, resources, and network they need to succeed. I’ll be focusing on strengthening our portfolio support, community initiatives, and ecosystem partnerships—ensuring our founders have the tools and connections to thrive. Excited to collaborate with incredible founders, investors, and to work alongside Emily McMahan and Sherman Williams II!