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  Speaker 1:
  Hello everyone. This is Meera Oak, partner at Alumni Ventures. Really excited to discuss “Backing the Breakthrough That Could Redefine Flight,” which is all about Venus Aerospace. I’ll give everyone a few moments to meander in, but then we’ll get started shortly. All right, let’s get started. I’m really excited to share with you today one of the most compelling investment stories in our portfolio, and frankly, one of the most audacious engineering breakthroughs that I’ve seen in my time in VC.

  So maybe just a quick pause on imagining something with me. It’s 9:37 AM on May 14th, 2025. You’re standing in the New Mexico desert watching a small rocket lift from Spaceport America. And what you’re witnessing isn’t just another engine test. It’s the first U.S. flight test of a rotating detonation rocket engine. History was really in the making that day, and that’s exactly what happened when Sarah (Sassie) Duggleby, CEO of Venus Aerospace, pulled off something most people thought was impossible.

  And so that’s what we’re here to discuss, and why we’ve been backing her vision ever since. But before we get into all of that, as we get started, I’m going to remind everyone we’re speaking today about Alumni Ventures and our views of the associated investing landscape. This presentation is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy or sell securities, which are only made pursuant to the formal offering documents for the fund.

  So as we dive in, let me introduce myself. I’m Meera Oak, partner at Alumni Ventures, focused on some of our seed-stage investments across SaaS infrastructure and broader e-commerce. I spent my career in strategic financial and operational roles—from helping manage about a billion-dollar budget at Yale University to working with early-stage venture studios like Create, based in New York, where I incubated businesses. I earned my MBA from Dartmouth Tuck School. But honestly, what gets me most excited is finding founders who are solving problems everyone else thinks are unsolvable, and Venus is no exception.

  But a little bit about Alumni Ventures. We’ve been around since 2014 and we’ve built something pretty unique in the venture world. We’ve raised over $1.4 billion from more than 10,000 individual investors and deployed that capital across 1,500 portfolio companies. That makes us one of the most active venture firms globally and the largest domestic VC firm serving individual investors.

  What I love about our model is that we democratize access to venture capital. We’re not just another fund—we’re a community of hundreds of employees across Manchester, Boston, New York, Chicago, and Menlo Park (where I am today). We’re all working to give individuals access to the same institutional-quality deals that were previously only available to large asset holders.

  The results speak for themselves. We’ve been recognized as a top 20 VC by CB Insights and ranked among the most active VCs by PitchBook for six consecutive years. We’re also named one of the most innovative companies by Fast Company. We co-invest alongside the best—brand names like Andreessen, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator—firms that have co-invested with us numerous times. We’re really pleased to have that roster.

  Now onto the star of the show, which is Venus Aerospace. I want to tell you why Venus Aerospace represents everything that we look for in a breakthrough investment. We start here—you see our overview and what makes this investment so compelling. We’re talking about the U.S.’s first successful flight test of a rotating detonation rocket engine.

  It’s breaking the decades-old three-speed-zone problem (which I’ll get into later), and it’s backing a visionary CEO with deep executional capabilities. Just some quick facts about the company: founded in 2020, headquartered in Houston, Texas. We participated in multiple rounds over the course of 2021 through 2023, and the company has grown tremendously from around 15 employees to over 75 employees during our investment period. The key traction metric that we were really excited to see was this historic first U.S. flight test of the RDRE technology in May of 2025.

  But the question of “why now” is really interesting because the hypersonic revolution has truly arrived. It begins with a few key factors. First, it’s a government priority: DARPA contracts, NASA partnerships, and a lot of executive orders are creating massive demand for this technology. Second, national security: the U.S. needs to maintain its leadership in hypersonic technology. It’s not just about faster travel; it’s about strategic dominance. Third, there’s the commercial potential: imagine flying from Los Angeles to Tokyo in under two hours instead of 11 hours—that’s an 80% reduction in flight time. Finally, it’s about infrastructure timing: facilities like Spaceport America are finally available for testing this advanced technology. The timing couldn’t be clearer.

  Let’s get into that problem I mentioned earlier: for decades, aerospace engineers have been stuck with what they call the three-speed-zone problem. The reality is you need different engines to reach different speed ranges: one for zero to Mach 3, another from Mach 3 to Mach 4, and another from Mach 5 onward. It’s like needing three different cars just to drive across town at different speeds—it’s inefficient, complex, and expensive.

  That’s where Venus steps in and where Sassie’s vision gets exciting. Her team developed the VDR-2, a revolutionary rotating detonation rocket engine that uses continuous supersonic combustion in a ring-shaped chamber. This single-engine system can handle the full flight envelope—from takeoff to Mach 6—delivering 15% higher efficiency with fewer failure points.

  There are competitors like Hermes (which we’ll get into) using turbine combined cycle engines that require controlled dives between speed zones. But Venus is creating something fundamentally different. Their approach eliminates the need for speed-zone transitions entirely. As Thomas d’Hélin from Airbus Ventures puts it: “With this flight test, Venus Aerospace is transforming a decades-old engineering challenge into an operational reality. Venus has shown an extraordinary ability to translate deep technical insight into hardware progress.”

  We were really pleased to see strong technical investors at the helm of this investment opportunity as well. And to be clear, sometimes when we talk about incredible technological developments, they can be perceived as theoretical. But this is not just theoretical. Venus has completed over 100 successful RDRE tests across multiple propellants with nearly 200 seconds of total hot-fire runtime.

  In December 2024, they achieved first ignition of their VDR-2 engine system. In May 2025, as I mentioned earlier, they made history as the first U.S. company to flight test RDRE technology. If that wasn’t enough, their IP protection is substantial. As a first mover in the space, they’ve built a high wall of innovation around their breakthrough engine design. This isn’t just about being faster—it’s about rewriting the fundamental physics of propulsion, which we see as incredibly defensible long-term.

  Diving into their progress: it’s truly remarkable. In the past few years, they’ve completed four successful drone test flights under Project Phoenix. In 2024, they achieved their first supersonic drone flight at Mach 0.9. In December 2024, they achieved first ignition of the VDR-2 engine system. In May 2025, they delivered their first historic U.S. flight test.

  In a relatively short time, they’ve achieved tremendous progress. In lockstep, they’ve grown their team to over 75 employees and secured government contract traction through NASA and DARPA partnerships. We’ve been really impressed with the efficiency the team has brought to this otherwise cumbersome build.

  On competitive advantages: while Hermes relies on turbine-based combined cycle engines requiring controlled dives between propulsion modes, and another company, Astro Mechanica, focuses on adaptive electric engines for sub-hypersonic flight up to Mach 3, Venus has cracked the code on a single-engine Mach 6-and-above flight from a runway. It’s revolutionizing what we believed to be the status quo.

  They’re the first U.S. company to flight test an RDRE, giving them a breakthrough in propulsion physics and IP protection. Their 15% efficiency advantage with no mechanical handoffs creates a significant competitive moat in the long run. We were pleased to see that from the early days.

  Sassie is probably the star of the show here, and what really convinced us to invest wasn’t just the technology—it was the leader behind it. Sassie brings a rare combination of technical fluency and business acumen. She has a biomedical engineering degree from Texas A&M, an MBA from Virginia Tech, and experience scaling a high-tech manufacturing company with over 200% year-over-year growth.

  But I think what really sets her apart is her execution. I went through that traction slide in a flash, but in an industry where breakthrough announcements often turn out to be hot air, Sassie has consistently hit extremely ambitious technical milestones while building a world-class team. She actually shared, after the historic May flight test: “This is the moment we’ve been working towards for five years. We’ve proven that this technology works not just in simulations or the lab, but in the air.” I think it’s an incredibly moving statement—for such a cumbersome build to have moved this swiftly—and it’s a testament to her leadership and her team. We are incredibly proud to have been investors from an early stage.

  To summarize the why here, hopefully it’s clear, but to distill it down, it really started with exceptional leadership. The CEO, Sassie, brought rare executional and technical fluency to the CEO seat. It’s game-changing technology—again, that first U.S. flight test of RDRE, which is 15% more efficient, single-engine, over Mach 6 capability—just incredible technology at the helm and strong market tailwinds. There’s dual-use opportunity across defense and commercial aviation, and we’re seeing a lot of tailwinds from the regulatory perspective as well. And finally, validation through progress. The results speak for themselves: over 100 RDRE tests, NASA and DARPA traction, and a lot of milestone-driven incremental value that the company has seen. We’re really pleased to be investors here.

  Just to take you behind the hood a little bit—when we evaluated this opportunity, our diligence confirmed several key factors. The technology works, with over 200 seconds of hot-fire runtime. Government contracts were in place. The team had proven milestone momentum. The market timing was really right for this.

  And yes, of course there are risks. There’s hardware complexity, capital intensity, and regulatory barriers. These were all real concerns, but they were addressed through extensive testing, depth of strategic public funding, and a defense-first go-to-market strategy that will ease regulatory entry in the long run. It fit perfectly with our fund strategy: deep-tech thesis, long-horizon alignment, massive TAM, and high return potential.

  The big picture here is that we’re not just building—or Venus isn’t just building—a faster airplane. They’re investing in the future of hypersonic flight: Los Angeles to Tokyo in two hours, critical national security technology, low-cost space access, and momentum from both regulators and the private sector.

  Our commitment at Alumni Ventures is to back visionary founders solving fundamental challenges. Venus Aerospace and Sassie Duggleby represent exactly that. We’re offering a couple of ways to participate in opportunities like Venus Aerospace.

  The first is to invest in a fund—let our team handle the diligence and investment decisions for the portfolio. We have investment professionals who are building diversified portfolios of venture-backed companies, and you get exposure to breakthrough technologies without having to evaluate each deal individually.

  Alternatively, you can join our syndicate, where you get to select individual companies to invest in. We share diligence materials and you review deals one by one to make informed decisions for yourself.

  Many investors do both—to cover your bases with the fund and supplement with specific syndication deals that particularly excite you. We wanted to share these two opportunities.

  In terms of next steps, for those who are interested in learning more, we encourage you to reach out if you’re interested in this particular space. We also encourage you to reach out to our account management team—Stephanie King, Hilary Ncala—and you can also view our fund materials directly or schedule a call with one of our senior partners to walk through some of the fund offerings. All of these resources are available to help you dive into these types of topics and understand what investment could look like in the vehicles we have.

  Taking a step back, Venus Aerospace represents everything we love about venture investing. It’s exceptional leadership tackling fundamental physics problems. It’s game-changing technology with proven results. It’s strong market tailwinds and validation through consistent milestone achievement.

  When we look at Sassie’s track record—from that historic May flight to her systematic approach to building government partnerships—we see exactly the kind of category-defining opportunity that we live for. The hypersonic economy is just beginning to take shape, and Venus Aerospace isn’t just participating—they’re leading the way.

  We really appreciate your time today. I noticed we’ve gotten some questions in the queue. I’m happy to take questions now and we can dive into a bit of Q&A.

  Got it. The first question I’m seeing is: If this technology can reduce a Los Angeles-to-Tokyo flight from 11 hours to two hours, what are the potential economic implications for global transportation?

  That’s a great question. If you think about that kind of compression, it has pretty profound implications from an economic lens. A few things come to mind:

  • Business productivity: Same-day international business travel could become feasible, potentially increasing global commerce and collaboration.

  • Tourism transformation: It makes distant destinations more accessible, potentially redistributing global tourism flows.

  • Aviation industry disruption: It could fundamentally reshape airline route economics and hub-and-spoke models.

  • Real estate and labor markets: Hypersonic connectivity could affect where people choose to live and work globally.

  I’m sure that’s not an exhaustive list, but it highlights some of what this technological innovation could bring.

  We have time for one more question: Given the capital-intensive nature of aerospace technology, how does Alumni Ventures assess the long-term funding and development runway for Venus Aerospace?

  This is a great question and something we consider for many of our deep-tech investments. It comes down to understanding the other pools of funding that make these types of capital-intensive businesses possible when scaling.

  A couple of areas we’ve seen prove successful—and which have been true for Venus as well—are:

  • Government revenue streams: The company secured NASA and DARPA contracts, which provided validation and funding for development phases. They also employed a defense-first approach, creating a revenue path before commercial applications. This is a very efficient way of offsetting some financing risk. It’s also non-dilutive, which is great when companies can tap into these capital pools.

  • Strategic partnerships: Companies often secure investors from corporate venture arms that not only provide strategic funding but also indicate industry validation. Venus’s partnership with Airbus Ventures is no exception. Corporate venture funds can be incredibly helpful for partnership opportunities and financing.

  Those are some of the ways we think about mitigating risk regarding long-term funding and runway for deep-tech investments.

  That’s probably all the time we have. We really thank you for joining us today. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to anyone on the Alumni Ventures team. It was wonderful to be here with you. Thank you.