The Space Frontier Foundation Announces A Competition to Launch NewSpace Business Plans into Venture Capital Orbit

Los Angeles, CA – June 23, 2006 The Space Frontier Foundation will host a competition at its NewSpace 2006 Conference in Las Vegas, Friday, July 21st, to help entrepreneurs wishing to start NewSpace companies. Finalists will present their plans to a distinguished panel of judges featuring Venture Capitalists and investors from the business world, where they will receive professional feedback and exposure to the public and press. The team, which includes judges who helped start the dot-com industry, will assess the presentations and select a winner. Along with some very expensive advice, and hard to come by contact with “real money,” the winning team will receive a $1,000 poker chip donated by one of the judges, an award at the conference gala, and recognition on the Space Frontier Foundation web site.

“Space is going to be the next economic frontier, and anyone wanting to have a piece of it better get started now,” stated the Foundation’s Rick Tumlinson. “But this is a tough field and only the best will survive. Our goal is to help serious entrepreneurs who want to start NewSpace companies get the right start.”

The Foundation has assembled a stellar panel of business-savvy judges:

  • Lowell Ness – Partner, Orrick Harrington
  • Jacques Vallee – Partner, SBV Venture Partners
  • Dr. Lee Valentine – Angel Investor, Executive Vice-President Space Studies Institute
  • Mahanjit Jolly – Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures
  • Amaresh Kollipara – Entrepreneur, Aerospace Consultant
  • Aneel Pandey – Angel Investor

Entrepreneurial space companies wishing to participate are asked to submit a 1-3 page executive summary of their plan by July 10th to amaresh@spacefrontierfoundation.org. Amaresh Kollipara is an entrepreneur and a former Accenture executive who will screen the entries. Entries must pertain to space-related markets such as space transportation, space robotics, space-related entertainment, remote sensing, space communications, materials sciences, life support green technologies, etc. Companies selected to present at NewSpace 2006 will be asked to submit a ten-minute presentation in advance of the competition. Final presentations in front of the judges will be at 4pm Friday July 21st.

A guideline for presentations can be found at the link below. (Special thanks to Mark Zetter of Golden Capital Network for the templates and formats we will use for this competition.)

“This is exactly the kind of activity that makes the Space Frontier Foundation’s conferences different,” added the Foundation’s Executive Director, Jeff Krukin. “Not fantasies, but real, roll up your sleeves and get-to-work action. We want to provide substantial value for NewSpace companies and those who want to get into this incredible new industry.”

Guideline for Presentations

NewSpace 2006 will be at the historic Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas July 19-23, 2006. Commemorating the anniversary of Apollo and humanity’s first steps on another world and celebrating the rise of a NewSpace movement that is opening the frontier to everyone, NewSpace 2006 will build on a foundation of exploration and point the way to the human settlement of space. NewSpace 2006, featuring different leading-edge subjects each day, draws a variety of speakers and attendees, from entrepreneurs building new rocket ships and new space companies to space enthusiasts who want to learn about this exciting new movement, to people who want to go into space themselves. “The billionaires of the 21st century will be made in space,” Tumlinson declared. “You can dream about it, or you can do it. You can be a science fiction consumer or create a real future, and maybe, if you work hard and do things right, you can also make a little money on your way to the stars.”

Important Note: to receive the special hotel room rate of $99/night, you must reserve your room by Monday, June 26th. After Monday, the rate increases to $150 or more per night, so book your room now!

For information, tickets, and room reservations

About Space Frontier Foundation The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization of people dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible. Our goals include protecting the Earth’s fragile biosphere and creating a freer and more prosperous life for each generation by using the unlimited energy and material resources of space. Our purpose is to unleash the power of free enterprise and lead a united humanity permanently into the Solar System.

Website: http://www.spacefrontierfoundation.org

Space Frontier Foundation

Rick Tumlinson
Media Contact
phone: 818-985-7367

Space Frontier Foundation
Jeff Krukin
Executive Director
email: jkrukin@spacefrontierfoundation.org
phone: 800-787-7223