Helping a space business reach for the stars

We’ve financed a space electronics entrepreneur and inventor to bring ground-breaking satellite technology to market – and, from there, off into space…

With the space industry offering huge potential for growth, we saw an opportunity to help an award-winning space electronics design and consultancy business reach greater heights.

As a child, Dr Rajan Bedi was fascinated by the constellations in the night sky and always knew he wanted to work in the space industry. In 2014 he set up his business, Spacechips, which develops bespoke space electronics for satellites and spacecraft, opening an HSBC Business Banking account at his local branch.

Opening up a world of opportunity

Last year the business reached a turning point as Dr Rajan had come up with a number of new inventions. But he needed a substantial loan to test and prepare his products for sale. And there was no way of being sure that the inventions would be viable until he started testing them.

“I saw an opportunity to help an innovative entrepreneur and to add value by really understanding his business,” said Salem Appleton, HSBC’s Relationship Manager for Spacechips.

We were able to use this in-depth knowledge, along with Dr Rajan’s industry credibility and the success of his previous inventions, to enable us to make the decision to provide the financial support he needed for the business to grow.

Energise for growth

We want to inspire a dynamic culture, creating a bank where the best people want to work and have opportunities to develop and thrive.

For Salem, that’s meant taking almost a crash course on the space industry in order to support Dr Rajan and his business.

“I find it such a fascinating industry and I know that it's got huge growth potential, as well as having a positive impact on real world issues,” said Salem.

Spacechips designs and produces satellite technology for processing earth observation data in areas like disaster management, food sustainability and climate change.

As Salem says: “These are some of the biggest problems out there. For me in my job, to have a small impact on that feels amazing.”

Focus on our strengths

Our strategy is to focus on areas where we have distinctive capabilities, and prioritise our efforts and investments there. Our support for Spacechips is part of our investment at scale in domestic markets like the UK where our opportunity is greatest.

And of course, Salem’s approach is great news for Dr Rajan, who can concentrate on the rocket science.

As he says: “When I bank with HSBC, I can simply focus on the engineering and the best way to serve our customers.

“HSBC and Salem are helping Spacechips to realise our dream of bringing our products to market – and, ultimately, launching them into orbit.”