Trisha Saxena is working every day toward a lofty goal: “finding the most cutting-edge and novel ideas which will contribute to the future of our world.”
Based in the UK, the 27-year-old works as an investment associate at the NATO Innovation Fund, a VC fund that invests in the latest technology that will protect citizens of NATO nations.
About NATO Innovation Fund: The firm invests in deep tech that will help support national security for NATO allies, though it’s not part of the alliance itself. The one-year-old fund is deploying €1B ($1.1B) in deep tech, and has already invested in a broad portfolio of companies, including space actors such as Germany launch startup Isar Aerospace and in-space manufacturing company Space Forge.
Space is one of nine sectors where the fund invests, and Saxena said the space focus centers around things like satellite manufacturing, in-space fabrication, and space situational awareness.
“Anything that provides the sort of data or capabilities that defense customers need to operate safely,” she said.
Giving back: Saxena recently completed her five-year term on the board of the Space Science and Engineering Foundation, which hosts competitions around the UK to get high school students excited about space. She still volunteers with the organization to help organize the events, in which teams design space settlements with inputs from fields ranging from engineering to business to biology to humanities, Saxena said.
Her work with the organization included organizing the first event specifically targeting female students and making sure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds were able to participate in the competitions, Shruti Iyengar, an investment manager at Future Planet Capital, wrote in her nomination.
Correction: This story originally misstated the age of the fund and it’s investment level. It is one year old and is planning to invest €1B.
