Former SpaceX executive Tom Ochinero is teaming up with SpaceX alumnus-turned-VC Achal Upadhyaya and one of Sequoia’s top financial executives, Spencer Hemphill, on a new venture called Interlagos Capital, TechCrunch has learned.
There is little public information available about Interlagos and the trio did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. The company was officially incorporated in the state of Delaware on March 7 and was registered as an out-of-state corporation in California just a few days ago on April 11. Ochinero, Upadhyaya and Hemphill all appear on the documents. The main address is in El Segundo, California.
A trademark application for “Interlagos” was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 4. This application indicates an address identical to that found on the company’s commercial registration. The application states that the company will engage in “venture capital services; venture capital financing services, namely providing financing to emerging and start-up companies.
Ochinero left SpaceX in February after working for nearly 10 years at the company, where he eventually became senior vice president of commercial affairs. In this role, he helped SpaceX become the undisputed global leader in commercial launch. People who know the subject told CNBC at the time that Ochinero was resigning “to take care of a family medical matter.”
With Interlagos, he teams up with another SpaceX alum – Upadhyaya – who spent a decade in engineering roles at SpaceX before joining investment firm Cantos as a venture partner in 2022. He is left this year, according to his LinkedIn. At Cantos, Upadhyaya’s bets included satellite bus maker Apex Space and motion control systems developer Salient Motion, two startups led by former SpaceX founders.
Rounding out the team is Spencer Hemphill, Chief Financial Officer. He is from Sequoia, where he also spent 10 years. He left this year, leaving the company as assistant controller.
Ochinero is just the latest SpaceX executive to transition from the giant space company to venture capital investing. People leaving SpaceX to start or invest in other companies are popular enough that there is a website dedicated to connecting the two groups. Other notable investors in the SpaceX-to-VC pipeline include Founders Fund’s Scott Nolan, who was one of SpaceX’s earliest employees, and Alpine Space Ventures’ Bulent Altan.
