When ASCEND 2026 convenes in Washington, D.C., 19-21 May, BryceTech will step into a new role: curating a dedicated two-day track that aims to connect investors, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders across the commercial space ecosystem.
This year marks the first time the Alexandria, Va.-based advanced analytics and strategic advisory firm has taken on end-to-end ownership of programming at ASCEND.
“We set this up as a two-day track with the theme of investment and innovators,” said Elaine Gresham, director of the Space Center of Excellence at BryceTech, explaining that 19 May is designated as Investors Day and 20 May as Innovators Day.
The programming is a culmination of BryceTech’s long history of space sector analysis under the leadership of Carissa Christensen, CEO and founder. It reflects a more engaged, interactive posture toward the start-up community that’s been growing for a decade, Gresham noted.
Investors Day: Following the Money into Start-Up Space
The first day will center on how capital flows into the commercial space sector, with content anchored by the firm’s Start-Up Space Report, now in its 10th year. The most recent edition, released in early April, details the scale and composition of start-up space investment.
BryceTech’s Christensen is slated to open the track with a briefing on the report’s findings, providing a data-rich overview before panels dive into specific policy and market levers.
According to the report, there was $10.9 billion in total start-up space investment in 2025, with U.S. companies responsible for two-thirds of that figure. In addition, the space industry attracted 397 first-time investors last year.
Those figures will serve as a framing device for a full day of programming devoted to funding mechanisms and investor behavior.
The Investors Day schedule includes:
- A panel on early-stage government investment, looking at federal support for commercial start-ups
- A session examining how U.S. states and regional initiatives are mobilizing capital for space
- An international perspectives’ space funding panel, bringing in non-U.S. viewpoints
- A fireside chat on the global economy and space
- A session on the global ecosystem of companies with U.S. and international counterparts
- A venture capital session, in which VCs will discuss trends and what they look for in prospective portfolio companies
Innovators Day: A New Start-Up Space Competition and Tools and Insights for Entrepreneurs
If Investors Day is about the supply and structure of capital, Innovators Day shifts the lens to the entrepreneurs and technologies that capital enables.
A key feature will be BryceTech’s first-ever Start-Up Space Pitch Competition, designed to connect promising early-stage companies with investors and technical experts. The competition will feature five finalists – Asterion Intelligence, Diffraqtion, Exobiosphere, Ravee Optics, and Single Crystal Diamond.
“They each will pitch in a closed-door session to our judges, who were on the VC panel the day before,” explained Gresham. “The finalists will also be on a panel where they will present their companies, and then we will award the winner [after that panel],” slated to go from 11 a.m. to noon on Wednesday.
The winning company will receive a BryceTech analytics strategy package, which includes analysis and SME support from the CEO. AIAA is donating a booth at next year’s ASCEND and a one-year corporate membership. The combination of direct exposure to venture capitalists, strategic advisory support, and a presence at next year’s event should prove valuable to a start-up navigating its first growth steps, BryceTech officials said.
Carie Mullins, director of Analytics at BryceTech, expressed hope that the programming will directly help entrepreneurs grow their businesses by connecting them to “the right insights, people, and pathways,” ultimately, enabling them to walk away with actionable guidance on both technology needs and investment routes.
Mullins stressed BryceTech’s unique vantage point across civil, national security, and commercial space can provide founders with an integrated view of the full space ecosystem.
“Looking at how these three parts of the markets all work together to come up with the full global economy for space is one of the things that we’ve been studying,” Mullins said. “[BryceTech’s programming] really brings those pieces together – how is government affecting commercial space, and how can you, as an entrepreneur, benefit from everything else that’s happening in the space ecosystem?”
Entrepreneurs and start-ups will leave ASCEND with clearer insight into market and funding dynamics, and concrete ideas and connections they can use to grow their businesses. To experience BryceTech’s sessions and Start-Up Space Pitch Competition, register at ascend.events.
