Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of the popular trading app Robinhood, is similarly following a mission to reinvent energy. He is seeking to achieve this ambitious goal through his new startup Aetherflux. Bhatt hails from a family deeply committed to the values of science and innovation. As visionary as he is daring, he’s made the leap from Wall Street to the forefront of the aerospace revolution.
Bhatt’s father was an optometrist in India. It took him more than a decade of trying before being able to apply to graduate physics programs in the United States and earning a research scientist position at NASA. That foundation in the sciences paved the way for Bhatt, who received a master’s degree in mathematics at Stanford University. In 2013, he helped launch Robinhood, a company that turned the trading world upside down by democratizing stock trading for everyday Americans. Last year, he left his position as Chief Creative Officer at Robinhood to go off and explore new horizons.
Aetherflux represents Bhatt’s ambition to prove that beaming solar power from space is not merely a concept relegated to science fiction. The firm intends to use solar energy captured in orbit. Their first focus is to use this type of technology for our national defense. Aetherflux just shifted their target laser dot to one of the ground. This spot measures over 10 meters across, further illustrating its potential for practical use.
To launch Aetherflux, Bhatt personally funded the company’s first $10 million. He was instrumental in advocating for an extra $50 million round of funding. This round was co-led by Index Ventures and Interlagos. This most recent round brought in some heavyweight investors including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and NEA. With this most recent raise, Aetherflux’s total funding has surged to over $60 million.
Bhatt imagines Aetherflux becoming “an actual industrial-scale true energy company.” That’s one of the big things he talks about, speedy execution — that it’s absolutely critical in the aerospace industrial base. “The right balance is not waiting five years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, as is the case with many important space programs,” he stated. His urgency reflects a broader recognition that “people’s careers are oftentimes shorter than that.”
Reflecting on his father’s influence, Bhatt recalls an important lesson: “When you grow up, I’m not going to tell you you should study physics.” This view of the world, I have no doubt, has conditioned his thought and practice around innovation and entrepreneurship.
Aetherflux would like to upend the established energy paradigm and develop solutions that marry extraterrestrial technology with earthly requirements. Bhatt admitted that the original ideas for solar power satellites were daunting. He suggested that the in-development spacecraft was approximately the size of a small city. Aetherflux aims to achieve a powerful reduction of this vision while preserving essential functionality.
Bhatt’s ambitions extend beyond mere energy generation. He highlights how this technology could enhance national security: “It allows the U.S. to have energy out in the battlefield.” Aetherflux taps into solar energy stored in space and converts it into light with diodes. This creative strategy is meant to help ensure a more reliable energy supply to support military operations.
Aetherflux is working quickly to push its technology. Bhatt is committed to realizing the company’s vision of becoming an “aspiring space company” to a responsible, operational, and reliable space enterprise. While he recognizes the challenges that lay ahead, he is optimistic about the future of space-based solar power.
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