Michael Boyarsky, CEO & Co-Founder of Extellis: Building a SpaceTech Company in NC and Meta Materials 101

Michael Boyarsky, CEO and co-founder of Extellis, joins me to talk about turning more than a decade of Duke metamaterials research into a satellite imaging company.

Michael explains what metamaterials are and why heat, not cold, is the real challenge for satellites in orbit. He also describes the conference moment when a competitor bragged about 2 percent uptime, and he thought the industry could do far better. He walks through the path from a DARPA-funded ground prototype to a spreadsheet that made the business case clear, and from there to spinning out of Duke with help from Duke New Ventures.

The conversation also covers how Extellis is getting to orbit without building its own satellites. The company is partnering with Astro Digital and riding on the ecosystem SpaceX made possible. Michael shares the details of its oversubscribed 6.8 million dollar seed round led by Oval Park Capital and the upcoming Pathfinder satellite. He closes with advice for researchers who are thinking about starting a company: begin with a real market need, not a technology looking for a home.

This is the Tweener Fund's first space investment, and it's a great listen for anyone curious about deep tech, university spinouts, or the new space economy.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to NC Tweener Talks

00:25 Thanks to our sponsors

01:35 Scot's intro: the Tweener Fund's first space investment

03:30 Welcome Michael Boyarsky

04:00 From Boston College physics to Duke's metamaterials lab

06:35 What is a metamaterial?

08:05 Negative refraction and the invisibility cloak