London—Dentons has renewed its arrangement with Seraphim to host the Seraphim Space Camp SpaceTech accelerator programme for 2019.

Last year, Dentons became the first partner to support it, lending its London office as home for the participating companies and corporate partners during the programme. The third cohort is scheduled to start at the beginning of May 2019 (Mission #3) which includes nine of the strongest global early stage SpaceTech companies.

Two cohorts have previously passed through Seraphim Space Camp with many of the start-ups receiving funding and indicative offers. 83% of participating companies expanded their teams within the six months following the programme, equating to 49 new jobs created in the space sector.

Led by high profile investors like Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, 2018 was a record year for investment in space start-ups which saw private funding and competition increasing while the time taken to go to market is decreasing.

Now established in the European space eco-system, the programme is designed to refine value propositions, significantly accelerate commercial activities and provide sustainable opportunities for scale up to the participating companies. Corporate partners of the programme include DSTL, European Space Agency, Rolls Royce, Cyient, Inmarsat, UK Space Agency; and companies supporting via Seraphim include SES, Eutelsat, KSAT, Aeroviroment, Telespazio, SSTL, Airbus and the Satellite Applications Catapult.

Dr. Justin Hill, IP partner at Dentons in London and expert-in-residence at Seraphim Space Camp, provides the programme with resources and the start-ups with specialised IP and legal expertise to complement the opportunities provided by the corporate partners.

He said, "It is great to be involved again. The participating companies have world class technologies. Too often we see promising early stage businesses cutting corners on IP and other legal provisions, when in reality they should be laying important foundations to support their future success. Dentons is pleased to share knowledge, provide access to our international platform and global contacts, and help secure commercial opportunities for these businesses. With impressive innovations and high levels of partner engagement, 2019 looks to be another exciting year."

Rob Desborough, Director at Seraphim Space Camp, said, “We are thrilled that Dentons will be partnering with us again this year. Justin Hill was one of the first people I approached when starting the programme and has been catalytic in getting Seraphim Space Camp off the ground. We would not be where we are today without his and Dentons' support."

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