Issue #17August 26, 20262 links

Ethos launches at YC to make solar silicon on the Moon

Ethos Space Resources launched out of Y Combinator's Summer 2026 batch to make solar-grade silicon on the Moon, melting, electrolysing and purifying lunar regolith in hard vacuum. Spectre Intelligence, in the same batch, is a multi-strategy trading firm that trains AI traders instead of hiring human ones and trades semiconductor and biotechnology sectors.

Cool Company Raises

YC S26

Ethos Space Resources launches at YC (Summer 2026)

Ethos Space Resources makes solar-grade silicon on the Moon. Demand for AI compute is compounding toward a terawatt a year of new capacity, and once data centres head to orbit it is rocket capacity, not the grid, that caps the buildout — so terawatt-scale AI in space has to be built from mass already outside Earth's gravity well. Ethos melts, electrolyses and purifies lunar regolith in hard vacuum, a single process that yields construction materials, rocket propellant and solar-grade silicon, tested in the company's own lunar environment chamber. The work starts with mining and construction for the first heavy landings: landing pads, propellant for the trip home, and silicon that turns sunlight into more capacity. Founded in 2022 by Ross Centers (Planetary Sunshade Institute) and Brogan BamBrogan (former principal propulsion engineer at SpaceX, co-founder of Hyperloop One), Ethos is based in Los Angeles and is part of Y Combinator's Summer 2026 batch.

Hard-Tech Exascale-Computing 3d-printing YC Energy Aerospace+1 more

YC S26

Spectre Intelligence launches at YC (Summer 2026)

Spectre Intelligence is a multi-strategy trading firm that trains AI traders instead of hiring human ones. An independent research and trading company built around reasoning under uncertainty, it currently trades in the semiconductor and biotechnology sectors. Founded by Michelle Li (CEO) and Joshua Zyzak, the firm is based in San Francisco and is part of Y Combinator's Summer 2026 batch.

Biotech Investing Trading YC Semiconductors Fintech

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