Will Scully-Power to launch US$150 million space and security VC fund

Will Scully-Power, founder of the investment firm Pine Gap, is planning to launch a venture capital fund targeting between US$100 million and US$150 million. The move marks a strategic pivot toward the US market for startups specializing in space and national security.

To administer the fund, Scully-Power intends to partner with a US-based venture capital firm and relocate to the United States. The fund will specifically target startups that focus on the US market from their inception. The target capital range is designed to ensure the fund can maintain its positions in portfolio companies as they scale; Scully-Power noted that while early-stage bets are valuable, maintaining those positions requires significantly larger pools of capital.

The Shift to Institutional Capital

Scully-Power, the son of Challenger astronaut Paul Scully-Power, is an experienced entrepreneur who has started and sold two businesses, including the Salesforce marketing agency Datarati, which was acquired by OSF Digital in 2022. Through Pine Gap, he has already established a footprint in the Australian space sector with investments in Gilmour Space Technologies, Fleet Space Technologies, and Skykraft. Pine Gap has also provided early-stage funding to the satellite inspector HEO and NRF-backed Hypersonix.

Despite these local successes, Scully-Power believes that Australia currently lacks the depth of space tech businesses necessary to justify a standalone domestic fund. This perspective drives the decision to anchor the new fund in the US, where the ecosystem for space and defense technology is more mature.

Dual-Use Tech and Global Competition

This transition reflects a broader industry trend where space technology is increasingly viewed as "dual use," serving both commercial and defense purposes. The rise of US defense tech giants like Anduril and Palantir, alongside the dominance of SpaceX, has created a blueprint for high-growth companies that can navigate both government contracts and private markets.

For Australian startups, the ability to tap into US capital and government spending is critical for global competitiveness. The scale of the opportunity is immense; for context, the US Space Force's projected budget for FY27 is US$71 billion. By bridging the gap between Australian innovation and US markets, Scully-Power aims to move the sector away from small-scale, family-office style investing toward a more institutional venture capital model.

Future Outlook

While the strategic direction is set, the finalization of the fund's structure depends on the upcoming partnership with a US firm. Observers will be watching to see which US-based VC partners with Scully-Power and how the fund identifies its first cohort of "US-first" startups. The move signals a growing recognition that for space tech companies to reach unicorn status, they must be integrated into the American defense and commercial infrastructure from day one.