Startup Space Winner Dr. Luisa Buinhas of Vyoma Balances Building Tech and Building Her Business
On this episode of On Orbit, we welcome the grand prize winner of the 2022 Startup Space entrepreneur pitch contest, Dr. Luisa Buinhas. She is the co-founder of Vyoma Space, a space debris mitigation technology company based in Germany. With a background in aerospace engineering specialized in space mission design and maneuver optimization, Buinhas leads the development of Vyoma’s space program in its ambition to become a trusted partner in protecting satellite operators and space-faring nations from dangerous debris. To accomplish this, Vyoma is building a constellation of space debris tracking satellites equipped with sensor systems and on-board optical cameras that can observe debris up close and personal in space. The satellites also have an on-board global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver that allows companies to determine the orbit of observed space debris. During this interview, Dr. Buinhas and I discuss the origin of Vyoma and how its intelligent algorithms and software solutions work. She explains how she prepared to go up against a very competitive field of entrepreneurs at Startup Space and how she is preparing for the potentially life-changing 30-minute pitch call with investors that she won as a grand prize. Buinhas also shares some valuable advice on establishing short- and long-term goals, hiring, and finding the right investors for new startups.