Former OpenAI exec Kevin Weil is now on the board of Stoke Space
Kevin Weil's new role at Stoke Space suggests reusable rockets are the next hot thing in Silicon Valley. Kevin Weil, a veteran tech executive known for stints at Twitter, Meta, Planet Labs, and OpenAI, has joined the board of Stoke Space , a well-funded Seattle startup building reusable rockets to compete with SpaceX. "It's real simple for me," Stoke CEO Andy Lapsa told TechCrunch of meeting Weil when he co-founded Stoke in 2020 and soon after joined Y Combinator's winter batch .
Key Takeaways
- "I came out of engineering, started a company, had no idea how to fundraise.
- Weil's past work has focused on digital products and platforms, which aren't obviously on Stoke's roadmap.
He was most recently the head of OpenAI's efforts to accelerate scientific research, leaving the company after that program's work was spread more widely across the frontier lab in April.
- No one has ever done that, with SpaceX coming the closest with its enormous Starship rocket.
The technological challenges of reusing a rocket - particularly its ability to survive the extreme heat of reentering the Earth's atmosphere from space - deterred even space investors with the deepest pockets.
- "The idea of full, rapid reuse was a little bit out there at that time...
that's now been rather normalized, and people see the inevitable now.
- And this isn't his first time in the space business.
Stats & Key Facts
- #The two kept talking while Lapsa raised $1.
- #34 billion - including a $510 million Series D funding round in 2025 - to build a rapidly reusable rocket that could fly this year.
"I came out of engineering, started a company, had no idea how to fundraise. I had no idea how Silicon Valley worked. Kevin [an early investor in the company with his wife Elizabeth, through their fund Scribble Ventures ] comes with all of that background and was able to help me think about fundraising and getting the company off the ground.
The two kept talking while Lapsa raised $1. 34 billion - including a $510 million Series D funding round in 2025 - to build a rapidly reusable rocket that could fly this year.
Stoke declined to make Weil available for an interview, and he didn't respond to TechCrunch's outreach. Weil's past work has focused on digital products and platforms, which aren't obviously on Stoke's roadmap. He was most recently the head of OpenAI's efforts to accelerate scientific research, leaving the company after that program's work was spread more widely across the frontier lab in April.
For more details please read the original article at TechCrunch AI.
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