New Delhi: Skyroot Aerospace on Thursday raised $60 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion, making it the first Indian spacetech startup to achieve the unicorn status.
The company is backed by Sherpalo Ventures and GIC, a global institutional investor, among other existing investors, including the founders of Greenko Group, one of the largest clean energy companies in India, and Arkam Ventures, a Bengaluru-based venture capital firm.
“We at Skyroot are excited about the upcoming Vikram-1 launch, India’s first private orbital rocket, marking a significant milestone both for India and the global space sector. This investment signals confidence from some of the world’s most reputed investors in Skyroot,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace, in a press release.
The Hyderabad-based spacetech company achieved the prestigious ‘unicorn’ tag eight years after Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka founded it. Focused on delivering satellites into orbit, Skyroot is preparing for the launch of Vikram-1, a privately built rocket designed to deploy small satellites weighing up to 350 kilograms into low Earth orbit.
After Skyroot’s launch of Vikram-S, which was the first privately built rocket to enter space, the focus is now on Vikram-1. The rocket has an all-carbon composite structure built from an advanced material known to withstand extreme environments, offering strength at a lower density.
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‘Skyroot building foundational infrastructure’
Skyroot’s board of directors will also soon include Ram Shiram, the founder of Sherpalo, an early-stage investment firm.
“Access to space is one of the key challenges of our time. Skyroot is building the foundational infrastructure for that future with the best cost-to-performance ratio in the orbital-launch industry. I am proud to deepen my partnership with them as they take their next giant leap,” he said.
With the new capital, Skyroot will now be able to conduct several Vikram-1 launches, scale up manufacturing at its headquarters, and develop Vikram-2, thereby expanding the range of services it can offer in the spacetech ecosystem.
Along with Skyroot, India is also home to other spacetech startups like Bengaluru-based EtherealX, which focuses on building reusable launch vehicles, and Pixxel, which aims to build satellites to observe Earth.
EthearealX, founded in 2022, aims to launch its first fully reusable medium lift rocket (capable of lifting 2,000-20,000 kg to low earth orbit) by 2027.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)