Arseneau: Brownsville can become the Silicon Valley of the space industry

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - NewSpace investor J. Brant Arseneau says there is no reason Brownsville, Texas, cannot become the Silicon Valley of the space industry.“I would like to be the first finance person to be in Brownsville when this becomes the Silicon Valley of Space. We can say, hey, we went there, first,” Arseneau said.Arseneau os founder of 9Point8 Capital, a group of companies that supports the space industry with end-to-end financial products. He spoke at a recent news conference held at the Brownsville Event Center. Other speakers included Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez, and Helen Ramirez, assistant city manager of Brownsville and executive director of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation.The news conference was called to announce 9Point8 Capital’s arrival in Brownsville.Ramirez said Brownsville is often considered the third city for space after Cape Canaveral and Houston in the U.S. and is well on its way to becoming the Silicon Valley of Space because of its ties with SpaceX. Their innovative agile approach to the space industry is considered more effective than what traditional space companies have seen in the past, Ramirez explained. Additionally, the city continues to attract space companies to the region, and with the addition of 9Point8, it adds local financial infrastructure to help these companies grow. Arseneau said 9Point8 Capital’s vision is to support space companies from their earliest to latest stages, with private equity to public credit, for investment capital to working capital. He said that after nearly 25 years on Wall Street, he had decided to chase his lifelong dream of being a part of the growing commercialization of the space industry and a new founded movement called NewSpace.  Editor's Note: To read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian website.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.