Valley of Depth Program Logistics, with John Conafay (Integrate)
There’s a growing demand for streamlined communication and collaboration tools in the space industry. Integrate Space, based in Seattle, is tackling this challenge head-on. Co-founded by John Conafay, a veteran with ties to the USAF, ABL, Spaceflight, and Astranis, the startup aims to modernize program management, offering digital solutions to track development schedules, coordinate missions, and improve vendor collaboration.
John believes that a platform like Integrate needs to be part of every industry building complex hardware. With newly acquired funding and two new contracts with the USSF and Firefly Aerospace, the company is expanding its team and moving into a new office in Seattle. Though space was where Integrate started, the company with the help of its new investors intends to expand into the biotech and cybersecurity industries.
A sneak peek…
In today’s episode, Mo and John chat:
– The landscape of digital tools in the industry
– Integrate’s business model and core value proposition
– Raising capital in the current market
– Digital solution platforms at scale
And much more…
This episode is brought to you by SpiderOak, a US-based software company that builds space cybersecurity products and solutions for civilian, military, and commercial space operations. Learn more at https://spideroak.com/
• Chapters •
00:00 - Intro
00:28 - SpiderOak Ad
01:05 - Integrate introduction
03:32 - How would you describe what Integrate does to your 5-year-old cousin?
05:34 - John's history with the new space industry
13:51 - Is Integrate's solution a nice to have or integral to solving huge inefficiencies?
16:14 - Integrate's core offering
17:31 - Initial target/customer base
18:36 - Integrate's business model
19:28 - How large is Integrate's team today?
20:23 - Integrate's branding origin
22:41 - SpiderOak Ad
23:28 - Recent contract wins
27:07 - Integrate's use case for the government
29:08 - How does Integrate fit in the competitive landscape?
31:15 - Does Integrate compete against internal builds from larger companies?
32:59 - Digital tools at scale
34:04 - Round construction
37:13 - Growth areas for Integrate
39:45 - Integrate beyond space
40:59 - Advice for founders looking to raise pre-seed funding
43:07 - Tech that John is a big fan of
47:28 - Favorite space book/show
49:03 - How to get invited to an Integrate party/get connected as a customer
• Show notes •
Integrate's website — https://integrate.space/
Integrate's socials — https://twitter.com/Integrate_hrdwr
John's socials — https://twitter.com/JConafay
Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes
• About us •
Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 15,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world. Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers.
Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing three media properties across multiple platforms: 1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern (https://newsletter.payloadspace.com/) 2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com) 3) Polaris, our weekly policy publication, hits inboxes Tuesday (https://polaris.payloadspace.com/) 4) Parallax, our weekly space science briefing, hits inboxes Thursday (https://parallax.payloadspace.com/)