Tejpaul Bhati, the former CEO of Axiom Space, has secured $30 million in funding from GV (formerly Google Ventures) for his new venture, a stock exchange designed purely for space-based assets. The platform aims to create a regulated marketplace where investors can trade shares in satellites, asteroid mining claims, and other orbital infrastructure.
The $30 million round marks one of the largest early-stage investments in the space-finance sector, signaling a growing appetite for instruments that extend Earth-bound market mechanics into orbit. GV's backing provides the startup with both capital and credibility as it navigates uncharted regulatory terrain.
The venture arrives amid a broader push to commercialize space—from satellite internet to in-space manufacturing—but no formal exchange exists today for valuing or trading these assets. Competitors like SpaceFund and SpaceBit have launched tokenized or fund-based approaches, though none have achieved scale.
If successful, this exchange could unlock liquidity for an industry projected to reach $1 trillion by 2040, enabling more efficient capital flow into space projects. However, the concept rests on solving novel legal questions about property rights beyond Earth's atmosphere.
Bhati brings deep sector experience, having overseen over $1 billion in space contracts at Axiom. Yet the skepticism is warranted: building a stock exchange from scratch is complex enough on Earth, and regulators have yet to define a clear framework for extraterrestrial securities.