Munich Startup: What motivated you to found a company?
Luisa Buinhas: As founders – Christoph, Stefan and I – we were initially scientists. For me personally, three essential factors were relevant to the decision to start a company:
- Impact: We identified a market gap and wanted to fill it in a way that makes sense for aerospace and is also economically profitable.
- Learning effect: As an entrepreneur, you learn things that you can’t learn elsewhere, certainly not in science. For example, how to build an organization, how to lead a team, or how to negotiate with investors. From the start, we knew this would be a steep learning curve, but the opportunity to acquire these new skills – together as a team with a passion for challenges – was personally a very exciting prospect for me.
- Freedom: The ability to freely decide how our company will develop, depending on how our vision evolves.
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to know before your first founding?
Luisa Buinhas: As an aerospace engineer in an academic environment, you find yourself in a filter bubble. You speak in technical jargon and understand how much our society depends on space and the aerospace sector – and you assume everyone understands this to the same degree. In reality, however, space is a distant concept for many people, and its utility or strategic importance is not sufficiently clear to many. I wish we had been more aware of this knowledge gap from the beginning, so we could have communicated our messages better in the first years.
Balanced ratio between private and non-dilutive financing
Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?
Luisa Buinhas: Vyoma is financed with private capital and has so far raised around 19 million euros in venture capital. We also have commitments for projects worth an additional 13 million euros from the EU Commission, ESA, and several state governments within the EU. This makes Vyoma a very capital-efficient company, with a balanced ratio between private and non-dilutive financing. Vyoma has also concluded a major contract with ESA involving the provision of data via its Flamingo-1 satellite, which launched in January 2026.
Munich Startup: When and where do you get your best ideas?
Luisa Buinhas: During long walks and other opportunities for relaxed thinking in quiet places.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Luisa Buinhas: I wouldn’t necessarily call them favorites, but I use Confluence, Jira, and Microsoft Teams most frequently – not particularly exciting.
“Communication is everything in deeptech”
Munich Startup: Your top tip on “pitching”?
Luisa Buinhas: As a deeptech company, communication is everything – and it’s especially important to tailor your messages to your target audience. Not everyone has the necessary technical expertise, not even investors. And in order for your target audience or investors to develop interest in an idea or business model, they first need to understand the problem it solves.
This means, for example, keeping explanations simple, such as through analogies, or not going into too much detail at first and simply focusing on the positive effects and impact that a solution can have for the target audience. Communication is the most valuable tool for conveying your messages, and the most effective way to communicate is to tailor it to your target audience.
Munich Startup: Does it seem like a good time to start a company right now? Why?
Luisa Buinhas: It depends heavily on the sector. A few years ago, the focus was strongly on sustainability solutions and green energy. However, the current geopolitical situation has meant that environmental issues have faded somewhat into the background, while topics such as space, security, sovereignty, and defense have moved to the forefront. In one of these sectors, it’s currently a good time to start a company – and to take advantage of available private and public funding.
Munich Startup: What technology or industry would you focus on in your next venture?
Luisa Buinhas: In the current context, topics such as space and sovereignty will likely remain relevant for some time. If, therefore, a similar opportunity were to arise after Vyoma, I would not rule out contributing to another meaningful and – as already mentioned – economically profitable solution in these areas.
Higher proportion of women desirable
Munich Startup: What could be improved at the startup location Munich in your view?
Luisa Buinhas: I come from a completely different background outside Germany and therefore welcome all resources provided by the German government to support founders and young companies with high growth potential, not just in the form of funding, but also through mentoring and incubation programs. Of course, it would be great to see a higher proportion of women in deeptech companies, both as employees and in leadership and management positions, but this is a development that takes years.
Munich Startup: Which female founder or male founder would you like to meet in person? And what would you ask them?
Luisa Buinhas: There are many fantastic founders from whom we can all draw inspiration and from whom we can learn a lot. But if we assume that starting a company in the global West is difficult, I can hardly imagine how difficult it must be for (female) entrepreneurs in developing countries. That’s why I would like to exchange with a founders’ community in South America, Africa, or Southeast Asia. And the most important question would be: “You are the future of our planet. How can we help you?” These founders are probably the most persistent in the world. Parallel to or even after my time at Vyoma, I want to give them and others a voice and support them in solving other real micro and macro problems in other parts of the world. Because it should be our shared responsibility to give back and pave the way for others so that they too can succeed.
