PAVE Space Grant: Securing CHF 1M in Non-Dilutive Funding
Owned end-to-end grant application for a space propulsion product, bridging engineering and business to win Swiss government funding.
Divya Shah
Founder's Associate at PAVE Space SA
From their time as
Founder's Associate
PAVE Space SA • 2025 - 2026
Overview
Divya took on the Swiss government grant application at PAVE Space with a clear mandate: secure non-dilutive funding for the company's Optimal Transfer Vehicle propulsion unit. He was the sole person running the project from start to finish.
The Story
Divya took on the Swiss government grant application at PAVE Space with a clear mandate: secure non-dilutive funding for the company's Optimal Transfer Vehicle propulsion unit. He was the sole person running the project from start to finish.
The application required competitive landscape mapping, a business case for the product, market sizing, and financial projections. Divya owned all of it. He started by talking directly with the engineers to understand the product's technical specifications, then translated those into commercial terms the grant reviewers would evaluate.
The harder challenge was alignment. The engineering team was thinking about the product from a pure R&D perspective, focused on the main propulsion unit rather than the consumer-facing sub-products that would actually generate revenue. Divya had to reframe the conversation, helping the team understand why the business case mattered and how the grant reviewers would assess it.
He structured the application around three pillars: competitive differentiation, product-market fit, and projected unit economics. The submission went in on time, and PAVE Space was awarded nearly CHF 1 million in non-dilutive funding.