Pablo Casado launches investment fund for SMEs in defence, aerospace and artificial intelligence

Former President of the People’s Party Pablo Casado He is one of the founding partners Hyperion Foundation FCRa venture capital fund to invest in SMEs in aerospace, defense and artificial intelligence.

According to Hyperion, its first goal is to capture up to 150 million euros and invest “in European emerging technology companies, with a particular focus on Spanish SMEs, to support their growth, competitiveness and internationalization.” It is already registered with the National Securities Market Commission and is the first venture capital fund in Spain specialized in the aerospace, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and dual-use defense sectors, excluding weapons and lethal equipment, in accordance with Article 8 of the Disclosure Regulations. sustainable finance.

Along with Pablo Casado, the Hyperion team includes Joaquin Ortiz Escobar, Jose Antonio Bartrina Jimnes, Ricardo Gomez-Acebo Botn (nephew of Banco Santander President Ana Botn) and Daniel Lorraine.

Both Ortiz and Bartrina look like “industrial security and defense experts” due to their experience in the sector. Ortiz came through the Defense Ministry and is currently with Sapa Placencia, a Basque defense group specializing in broadcasting. For her part, Bartrina founded the defense project incubator in 2018 after leaving the Tedae association, which brings together Spanish aerospace and defense companies.

The foundation also has an international advisory board that includes government officials such as the former NATO secretary general and the former prime minister of Denmark. Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Ambassador and former US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky or former Minister of Defence, Interior, Justice and Foreign Affairs of France Michel Alliot-Marie. He also has a Saab CIO Robert MurrayRothschild advisor Richard Hurowitzand unicorn investors Martin Varsavsky And Nicole Junkermann.

The fund is managed by Singular Asset Management SGIIC, which is part of Singular Bank, a private banking organization with more than €12 billion under management. The anchor investor is the Nortia group, shareholder of Sacyr, Merlin and Arcano, as well as fund managers Q-energy, McWin, Serena and Seaya, in which it is also a reference investor along with Iberdrola.

Hyperion highlights that “the current geostrategic scenario reinforces the need to enhance technological sovereignty and security capabilities in Europe, which has led to an increase in investment in the aerospace, cybersecurity and defense sectors by more than 50%, with a forecast for sustained growth over the next decade. ” He adds that “it has a very mature portfolio of projects with high estimated returns, which represents an opportunity for potential investors for financial diversification and sector differentiation, as it is one of the first European funds in this vertical.”

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