Your Access To Capital
SanPete Financial Group
Space & DoD Innovation Funding
"Working directly with perspective clients and agencies that you intend to fund or collaborate with is the highest and best strategy to develop and propel successful partnerships into great innovations and businesses." ~Yvonne E. Gamble
Traditional & Alternative Funding Options
We provide funding to fit the client's needs
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Venture Capital Funding (VCF)
SanPete Financial Group’s VCF division partners with angel investors, family offices, private firms, hedge funds, banks, and high net worth investors. We work with founders from seed, A rounds and B rounds. Learn more
Alternative Financing Team (AFT)
SanPete Financial Group’s AFT collaborates with private firms, government entities, business development companies (BDCs) and wealthy investors who have more than met the call of start-ups, smaller and mid-sized companies that are not positioned to dilute control over their business’ future or profits through equity dilution. Our Alternative lenders and investors provide highly flexible funding arrangements — like non-dilutive financing, venture debt financing, revenue sharing, structured equity products, recurring annual revenue lending and many other alternative financing products — that allow businesses of all sizes to grow. Learn more
Upcoming Events
This is how we work for space in Washington D.C.
The Day of Action is The Planetary Society's premier global advocacy event. We provide opportunities for members to take direct action to support planetary exploration, planetary defense, and the search for life.
The Planetary Society Day of Action 2025
How Planetary Society Works​
Pod Casts
Rich Julien and Right Honourable Yvonne E. Gamble spoke on National Technology Alliance Podcast "Space Commercialization Getting Someone Else to Pay For It". Moderated by Jonathan Jakischa Senior Manager: Open Innovation Programs | TechConnect/TechConnect Ventures Division
The commercialization of space is the growing involvement of private companies in the development and exploration of space. Some ways that the government supports the commercialization of space include:
NASA's mission is to encourage the commercial use of space, and they do this by ensuring that their contractors and partners have the maximum legal rights to their investments. NASA also funds a variety of commercial space initiatives.
Federal support: The U.S. government supports the development of new vehicles, launch infrastructure, and vehicle technologies. However, the government does not directly subsidize the commercial space transportation industry.
Deregulation: Federal deregulation has helped the U.S. commercial space sector flourish. #spacecommercialization #datainspace #inspacemamufacturing #spacetechinvestment #leoinvestments
Past Events
NASA Soil to Space Challenge
Washington D.C. June 17-18, 2026
SanPete Financial Group CEO Yvonne Gamble served as a Judge to NASA Soil to Space Challengers. She created 37 Innovation Incubator courses, teaching on funding from fundamental to the complexities of obtaining to scaling for growth and IPO, as part of the prize for winners and runners-up.
Why NASA Challenged Soil to Space Founders
New Computing Innovations to Advance Regenerative Agriculture.
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Rapid advances in commercial space, artificial intelligence, and edge computing are transforming what is possible for Earth observation. By pushing more intelligence onboard, missions can move from passively collecting data to actively interpreting and responding to changing surface conditions in near-real time, enabling more targeted observations and dramatically improving the value of data returned to the ground.
Within this context, land-focused applications such as regenerative agriculture, sustainable forestry, and broader land resilience efforts stand to benefit enormously from satellites that can adapt what, when, and how they sense based on dynamic environmental signals and algorithmic insight rather than fixed schedules or static acquisition plans.
Judges, Speakers & Panelists
EMCEE
Tyrome (Ty) Smith
CEO of Go In Now LLC & Business Innovation Facilitator​​
Judge
Brad Doorn
Assistant Teaching Professor at Penn State University
Judge
Teresa Cicerone
Technical Analyst, DoD
Judge
Yvonne Gamble
CEO, SanPete Financial Group
NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) invited participants to design small satellite (SmallSat) mission concepts that leverage adaptive sensing and onboard processing to enhance regenerative agriculture, forestry, or a similar land resilience objective.​ Participants must work within onboard power, compute, and bandwidth constraints characteristic of SmallSat missions, focusing on how to orchestrate existing land observation algorithms into an efficient, responsive onboard intelligence layer.​ Both hardware-oriented and software-oriented solutions—or combinations of the two—are encouraged.
The Challenge
Develop or describe potential adaptive sensing or onboard processing solutions that support SmallSat mission concepts to advance regenerative agriculture, forestry, or a similar land resilience objective.
NASA’s primary objective for this challenge is to advance computational and systems approaches for adaptive sensing onboard processing on SmallSat missions. The goal is not to develop new agricultural or forestry science but rather to improve how SmallSats sense, process, and deliver information to enable these applications.
Why Soil to Space Founders Participate
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Prizes Up to $400,000
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Ownership and use of intellectual property arising from this competition remains with founders.
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Community Impact and Economic Development: Gaining expertise in regenerative agriculture and forestry enables participants to directly contribute to land use enhancements, creating a tangible impact in areas such as farming output, supply chain optimizations, and long-term hazard reductions.
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Interdisciplinary Learning: Regenerative agriculture and forestry are inherently interdisciplinary, blending elements of ecology, meteorology, geography, public policy, and engineering. This challenge offers participants a rich experience that integrates various fields of study, fostering well-rounded academic and professional development.
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Personal Growth and Leadership: NASA Challenges encourage participants to tackle complex problems, work collaboratively in multifaceted teams, and develop innovative solutions to impactful Agency and Earth Science initiatives.
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Networking and Collaboration: Participating in Earth Science initiatives often involves collaboration with government agencies like NASA, non-profit organizations, and private entities. This challenge provides participants with valuable networking opportunities, access to mentorship, and potential collaborations that can enhance their educational journey and career prospects.
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Cross-Applicability: By focusing on one tangible challenge, participants gain a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities posed by different SmallSat sensing and processing methods and will be able to apply their skills in new contexts.
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Non-Dilutive Funding: Prize winners of the Challenge receive funding to further develop their innovative technologies and commercialization strategies without reducing equity or IP ownership in their ventures.
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Conference Presentation Opportunity: Winners will have the opportunity to present their work at IGARSS (International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium), gaining visibility within the global Earth science and remote sensing community.
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Innovation Incubator Access: Winners will participate in an innovation incubator program designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of their solutions, providing structured support, resources, and expert guidance.
Judge
Janelle Heslop
Director for Strategy and Innovation for the Earth Sciences Division at NASA Goddard
Panelist
Kate Jones
Geopolitical & Geoeconomic Strategist Strategic Advisor
Judge
Angel Perez
USGS Deputy to the CAC Secretary | Governance Lead
Panelist
Omar Balkissoon
Founder of ZeroGravity Capital
Panelist
Adrienne Pollack
Solutions Architect, Agriculture Lead at Planet
Winners
SanPete Financial Group CEO Yvonne Gamble served as a Review Panelist/Speaker to Innovation Challengers. Smart Cities Connect Conference and Expo explores and addresses challenges with city leaders who want to employ innovative solutions to make their communities safer, smarter, and more sustainable. It emphasizes collaboration between city leadership and industry innovations, focusing on comprehensive urban needs. Participants can submit their panels for a chance to lead discussions at the conference in December 2024 Austin, TX.
Innovators Connected With Their Next Partner or Funder!
These experts and more reviewed 96 innovators June 2024!
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TechConnect
WORLD INNOVATION
Conference & Expo
Washington D.C. June 17-19, 2024
SanPete Financial Group CEO Yvonne Gamble served as a Review Panelist to new challengers, Speaker and Mentor to DoD Resilience Week Award recipients.
For over 20 years the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo has connected top applied research and early-stage innovations from universities, labs, and startups with industry end-users and prospectors. The 2024 TechConnect World Innovation event includes the annual SBIR/STTR Innovation Conference, AI TechConnect, and the TechConnect Technical Program - more than 35 world-class technical symposium, and the Nanotech Conference Series – the world's largest and longest running nanotechnology event.
Through these joint programs, TechConnect has published over 10,000 technical papers, connected over 20,000 innovations with industry partners, provided prospecting to most all Fortune 500 technology companies, and supported most every U.S. Science and Technology agency including the National Nanotechnology Initiative since its inception.
Join the world's brightest researchers, innovators, and technology prospectors as they convene in Washington, DC, Gaylord National Harbor, June 17-19, 2024.
Register Now.
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Public Private Partnership Connections
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SMART Cities Connect Spring Conference & Expo
SanPete Financial Group CEO Yvonne Gamble was a speaker at the Investment and Partners RoundTable panel and served as a pitch competition review judge during the #SCC24 this Spring! She shared insights on how technology is transforming urban living. Stay abreast of all Smart Cites initiatives and collaborate with municipalities, industry leaders, federal government, military, and nonprofits to empower our communities! Bring your questions and let’s dive into the topic of creating #smartercities together! Access the latest research and media on smart cities! smartcitiesconnect.org.
NASA SPACE TECH CATALYST PRIZE
SanPete's CEO Yvonne Gamble served as a Judge for NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize a program that awards $25,000 to individuals and organizations that work to create a more inclusive space technology ecosystem. The prize also supports community building and effective engagement within NASA's Early-Stage Innovations and Partnerships (ESIP) portfolio. Up to 20 individuals or teams receive the award, with each team made up of eligible individuals or organizations and led by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is at least 18 years old.
Each winner was selected for proving their ability to engage and develop underrepresented groups in space technology development, broaden NASA’s outreach efforts to diverse sources of developers, and build a community of emerging innovators equipped to compete for the agency’s technology development opportunities.
“We are proud to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of these exceptional individuals and organizations leading the way in building an inclusive community in space technology for the benefit of humanity,” said Denna Lambert, inclusive innovation team lead, Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Their dedication and success in engaging underrepresented groups will undoubtedly inspire others to join us in advancing the frontiers of space exploration and innovation.”
NASA MSI INCUBATOR
Wildfire ClimateTech Challenge
SanPete Financial Group CEO Yvonne Gamble served as a Judge reviewing pitches and participated as a panel speaker representing the venture capital industry for NASA’s Wildfire Climate Tech Challenge, part of the MSI Incubator initiative, seeks innovative solutions for wildfire prevention and climate technology. NASA invites students and employees of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to address the escalating issues caused by wildfires exacerbated by climate change. Successful participants will have the opportunity to join a startup incubator program and compete for a prize of $100,000. Additionally, this initiative offers a platform for participants to present their ideas to venture capitalists and NASA experts, furthering the development of technology in the fields of wildfire prevention and climate change, while promoting inclusivity and diversity. Blue Clarity hosted the challenge. 9 semi-finalists were chosen 6 teams took home the challenge prize.
2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge
SanPete Financial Group CEO Yvonne Gamble Judged 22 entries for space and defense tech innovations, along with a group of 15 other judges across the United States from NASA Scientists, and Venture Capitalists.
In December 2023 NASA announced final winners of the 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge, which focused this year on lunar exploration and climate science.
Entrepreneurs from across the United States came together at the Defense TechConnect Innovation Summit and Expo in Washington to pitch their ideas to a panel of NASA judges and venture experts. Winning organizations were awarded a $85,000 grand prize for technologies that advance the agency’s science goals.
“Science and technology work hand in hand,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Our science goals are advanced by creative new technologies, and challenges like this open doors to innovative ideas from entrepreneurs around the country. We are always looking for the brightest, cutting-edge ideas to help NASA move forward its visionary research regarding Earth, the Moon, and the entire universe.”
The 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge sought solutions in two areas: to provide ideas for lunar payloads that may attract non-governmental funding for delivery to the surface of the Moon by a commercial provider; and climate science to obtain high quality data from small, hosted instruments, as well as new business models for using existing climate data to address climate and environmental problems.
Earlier in 2023, 11 challenge participants were selected as Round 1 winners, and received $16,000 each to advance to the final, second round of the challenge.
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