Former SpaceX senior executive Tom Ochinero teams up with SpaceX alumnus-turned-VC Achal Upadhyaya and Spencer Hemphill, one of Sequoia's top financial leaders, in a new venture called Interlagos Capital According to research by TechCrunch, this is the case.
Little information has been made publicly available about Interlagos, and the three individuals did not respond to TechCrunch's requests for comment. The company was officially incorporated in Delaware on March 7 and registered as an out-of-state corporation in California a few days earlier, on April 11. Ochinello, Upadhyaya and Hemphill are all on the docket. Its principal address is in El Segundo, California.
The trademark application for “Interlagos” was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 4th. The application lists the same address listed in the company's business registration. The application states that the company will handle “venture capital services.” Venture capital financing services, i.e. services that provide funding to start-ups and start-ups. ”
Ochinello left SpaceX in February after nearly 10 years at the company, eventually becoming senior vice president of commercial business. In that role, he helped his SpaceX grow into the undisputed world leader in commercial launches. Officials told CNBC at the time that Ochinello resigned “to address medical issues for his family.”
At Interlagos, he is teaming up with Upadhyaya, another SpaceX alumnus. Upadhyaya spent 10 years in an engineering role at SpaceX before joining investment firm Cantos as a venture partner in 2022. According to his LinkedIn, he left the company at the end of this year. At Cantos, Mr. Upadhyaya's bets included satellite bus maker Apex Space and motion control system developer Saliant Motion, both startups led by former SpaceX founders.
Finance Director Spencer Hemphill rounds out the team. He is from Sequoia, where he also spent 10 years. He also left the company later this year as an assistant controller.
Mr. Ochinello is just the latest SpaceX executive to move from the giant space company to venture investing. It's so popular that there are websites dedicated to connecting the two groups, with people leaving SpaceX to find or invest in other companies. Other notable investors in the SpaceX-to-VC pipeline include Scott Nolan of Founders Fund, who was a very early SpaceX employee, and Bulent Alton of Alpine Space Ventures.