Sergey Khusnetdinov

Our World Fund start-up IQM Quantum Computers just became a unicorn, raising $320m – the largest ever quantum Series B outside the US. 🚀 When our co-founder Daria first pitched quantum computing as a climate deal for our climate VC World Fund, I have to admit that I wasn’t immediately convinced. But she was right. Why? Because quantum has the potential to cut 7Gt of CO₂ a year, according to McKinsey & Company – an 18% reduction in global emissions. #IQM has already shown this potential in its collaboration with Volkswagen on next-gen battery chemistry that across all market applications is a pathway that could mitigate up to 1.4Gt of emissions annually by 2035. We backed #IQM in 2022, leading their €128m Series A. Today they’re scaling globally, with a roadmap to error-corrected systems and a strong push into the US. The link between compute and climate wasn’t obvious then. It’s obvious now. And we’re proud to be part of this journey. Full story in the comments.

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The spacetech sector is now a mainstream and investable asset class, fundamentally validated by SpaceX’s long-awaited IPO. The industry-leading company is now public with approximately a $2 trillion market valuation, providing it with the equity currency to make acquisitions, and, along with competing capital from across the investment world, simultaneously expand and consolidate the industry. For those companies pursuing their place in the space ecosystem, this IPO impacts them in several, mostly positive, ways: - High-profile listings – and has there ever been a higher profile listing than SpaceX? - lift valuations and attract investment and entrepreneurial interest for companies across the industry, from startups to established businesses. The realization of both value and liquidity is a strong indicator for investors who might have been leery of the sector and its risk profile. - Scale and its accompanying economies will be incredibly important to succeed both technically and financially in spacetech development and deployment. SpaceX now has the ability to consolidate the industry by using its shares to make acquisitions. In many cases, SpaceX shares will be more attractive to sellers than cash. In addition, SpaceX’s ability to invest in outside companies specializing in developing technologies beyond its expertise will inevitably fuel both the pace and expansion of - and outside investment in - those efforts. - The long term feasibility of so many spacetech startups and their business plans and models are centered around the success, capabilities, and future needs of SpaceX’s Starship rocket. Post-IPO, SpaceX is far more assured of having the capital to bring both Starship and its supporting infrastructure and economy to fruition. - Watch for a surge in self-funded spacetech ventures as the newly-minted SpaceX IPO multi-millionaires look to spin off their own companies. Like other successful companies, SpaceX will in most cases support and invest in many of those startups. - For SpaceX’s competitors, this IPO might very well result in rising difficulty from having to compete with greater scale and deeper pockets. However, those strapped for cash might find that the success of this IPO makes capital raising far easier, as investors seek to find the next SpaceX – or simply invest in companies who can credibly surf its wake. As space columnist Leonard Davis wrote this morning in this great article (https://lnkd.in/e8FGuuwA), "SpaceX transitioning to a publicly traded company is a big deal, not only cash wise but may well power the future and potency of commercial space overall." Roy Naor, PhD Lion David CREATION-SPACE Kelli Kedis Ogborn Jake Novak NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Gal Yoffe FRGS Israel Biran #spacetech #ipo #spacex #spaceeconomy

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Private capital is now driving infrastructure buildout at a scale that rivals — and in some cases exceeds — government-led programs. Four US companies alone are expected to invest $650 billion in AI infrastructure in 2026. That shift has real consequences: for grid load, energy affordability, national security, and how cross-border investment gets structured. Next Tuesday, I'm joining the Dentons Smart Cities & Connected Communities Think Tank and the Keystone Policy Center for a virtual roundtable on the implications for investors. We'll be navigating an environment where—to put it mildly—the policy picture hasn't quite caught up with the capital flows. I'm looking forward to the discussion with Michael Considine, Guly Sabahi, and Michael Zolandz, with opening remarks from Christine Scanlan and Clint Vince. Thanks to the Dentons team for inviting PolicyAlpha, especially Linda Willard, Dorinda Graves, and Jennifer Morrissey. If infrastructure finance, AI, energy, or public-private collaboration are on your radar, I hope you'll join us on Tuesday, 3/10 at 11:30am EDT. Registration link in the comments below. #Infrastructure #AI #EnergyTransition #DataSovereignty #SmartCities #PrivateCapital #PolicyAlpha

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Venture Capital has to reinvent itself for ai. Ai ventures need very little capital for core technology and “coal power plant like”funding for infrastructure. Both don’t work for the current Vc model. Sandhill Road venture capital is in dire straits. Their playbook which is borrowed from Hollywood depends on a Hollywood studio type concentration of power. In place of Warner brothers, fox, universal, Disney etc they created Microsoft, meta, Google, Amazon etc. And then Netflix came along and ate the lunch of the studios disrupting the industry with an integrated model which eliminated all intermediaries and offered an “eat all you can”. Now if an AI super app from India were to do the same to all foundational models - it would eliminate all hope of recovering the Rs 2,000 crore pa salary packages doing the rounds of the valley. Venture Capital was about creating hype - multiple firms backing one horse - and that horse then buying everyone that mattered. Microsoft did that and then the others followed. The playbook was kill or acquire. And hire lots of lobbyists for regulatory capture. And criminals if required. That playbook is no longer going to work. For the past decade, Indian venture capital has chased billion-dollar outcomes. Unicorns became the scoreboard. But economies are not built by a few giant explosions. They are built by millions of small pops. The ten or twelve venture capital companies that do popcorns are quiet and hidden. They generate a return on investment more than drugs or prostitution. And have no need for external capital. The others are all smoke with little fire. And are desperately looking to offload their overpriced purchases. The unsuspecting retail investor is one Guinea pig. Unicorn investing concentrates capital into a tiny number of companies. Popcorn investing spreads capital across thousands of ₹10 crore, ₹50 crore, ₹200 crore businesses. The former creates valuations and bubbles. The latter creates employment and sustainable businesses. A single unicorn may employ 3,000 people. But 100,000 smaller companies employing 10 people each create 1 million jobs. That is the scale India actually needs. More importantly, popcorn companies build real capability — manufacturing firms, component suppliers, specialized engineering companies, regional service providers. These businesses rarely reach billion-dollar valuations. But they form the industrial backbone of a nation. They spawn an ecosystem. Germany did not rise on unicorns. China did not start with tech giants. It started with thousands of small factories. The United States did not become an innovation powerhouse through a handful of startups, but through decades of dense entrepreneurial layers. Unicorns are peaks. Popcorn is the mountain. India’s future will not be determined by how many billion-dollar companies it creates, but by how many hundred-crore profitable companies it produces. We don’t need more unicorn hunters. We need more popcorn makers.

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