Hyderabad startup Skyroot raises USD 51 m

HYDERABAD: Skyroot Aerospace, an Indian Space-Tech startup, successfully raised US$51 million (INR 403 crore) in a Series-B financing round. This is the largest funding round ever in the Indian Space-Tech sector. GIC, which led the funding, is one of the most established investors in India. The GIC India Direct Investment Group's managing director, Mayank Rawat, will join the Skyroot board of directors.

The fresh round of funding comes in response to the Indian government's massive push into the space industry, which included opening it up to startups and private-sector entities and promoting private investment in the industry. This investment validates Skyroot's space technology strengths and expands its ability to capitalise on trillion-dollar space business opportunities. The company intends to meet the rising demand for small satellites in the international market.

The first privately manufactured space launch vehicles in India are being developed by Skyroot. The flagship Vikram series of launch vehicles is named after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, who founded India's space programme. The Vikram Series rockets are specially constructed with an all-carbon fibre frame and can launch up to 800 kg of payloads into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Skyroot is the first firm to sign an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the purpose of exchanging resources and knowledge.

"We are proud to welcome one of the world's leading institutional investors as a long-term partner in our mission to 'Open Space for All'. This round puts us on a trajectory of hypergrowth by funding all of our initial developmental launches and enabling us to build infrastructure to meet the high launch cadence required by our satellite customers. Our objective is to establish ourselves as a provider of best-in-class rocket launch services and the go-to destination for affordable and reliable small satellite launches. "Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyroot,

Skyroot Founders Pawan Kumar Chandana(Right) & Naga Bharath Daka(Left)

"We have validated all three propulsion technologies in our Vikram space launch vehicles, and completed a full-duration test of one of our rocket stages in May'22. We are also planning a demonstrator launch into space this year. This round will help us get to a full-fledged commercial satellite launch scale within a year from now. We have started booking payload slots for our upcoming launches. "," said Naga Bharath Daka, Co-Founder and COO of Skyroot.