Thursday, November 26, 2026
Yury Glazkov
You will hear Raphael’s personal story — why and how he transitioned from a traditional career path in M&A, restructuring, and trading at leading institutions such as JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and hedge funds, to becoming an investor and co‑founder of startups in space technology, as well as a speaker on space‑related topics.
He will provide insights into the space technology ecosystem and economy, including financing models and investment opportunities within the sector.
Raphael Roettgen is the founding partner of E2MC (Earth-to-Mars Capital, www.e2mc.space), a space-focused early-stage venture capital firm with over 30 space investments globally to date. E2MC also co-founded two space accelerators: KickSky, India’s first space accelerator, and the Orbital Edge accelerator in the U.S. (in partnership with ISS National Lab).
Raphael is also Executive Chairman of Space Asset Acquisition Corp., a $230 million NASDAQ-listed space & defense-focused SPAC, and a co-founder and acting CEO of Prometheus Life Technologies, a Swiss space biotech startup focused on organoids.
He has lectured on space entrepreneurship and investing at universities including the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Nova Business School, HBS and Stanford. Raphael hosts the popular Space Business Podcast, and is the author of “To Infinity”, an introductory book on the space economy.
Previously, he held senior roles at global investment banks and hedge funds.
He holds degrees in finance and psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, machine learning from PUC-Rio and space studies from the International Space University.
