#49: Inside the Mind of a Space Engineer Turned VC (Feat. Koen Geurts, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF)

Koen Geurts spent over a decade designing and operating hardware for Europe’s most ambitious comet mission. As an operations engineer on Rosetta’s Philae lander, he witnessed a seven‑hour descent fraught with upside‑down thrusters, failing harpoons, and a rotating lander that forced the team to improvise real‑time communications. The mission’s hibernation phase also demanded relentless software optimization, squeezing late‑1990s code onto minuscule onboard memory while building exhaustive decision trees for a 45‑minute one‑way signal delay. Those high‑pressure moments forged a deep appreciation for the technical risk and resilience required in NewSpace ventures.

After a stint managing satellite operations at Telespazio and overseeing the ESA Moonlight program, Geurts pivoted to venture capital, joining Germany’s Hightech Gründerfonds (HTGF). His aerospace pedigree gives him a rare ability to read schematics and mission concepts that most financiers overlook, allowing HTGF to assess early‑stage deep‑tech startups beyond pure financial metrics. The fund’s mandate blends public‑private partnership capital with a mandate to nurture German deep‑tech, while also reaching beyond Europe for strategic bets. Geurts now scouts companies across the entire space value chain, from launch vehicles to re‑entry systems and constellation services, ensuring technical feasibility aligns with market potential.

HTGF’s NewSpace portfolio—featuring Orbex, Reflex Aerospace, Atmos Space Cargo, Marble Imaging, and DQ—illustrates a deliberate strategy to build a resilient ecosystem that supports both seed and later‑stage rounds. By leveraging Germany’s government‑backed Deep Tech and Climate Fund, the firm can sustain capital through a company’s growth lifecycle, a model attractive to U.S. investors seeking stable co‑investment opportunities. As geopolitical tensions heighten demand for sovereign launch capabilities and critical space infrastructure, HTGF’s blend of engineering insight and venture expertise positions it to accelerate Europe’s competitive edge while offering transatlantic partners a gateway to high‑growth space startups.