India’s leading private space-tech company, Skyroot Aerospace has raised an additional US$ 27.5 million, equivalent to ₹225 crore, in a pre-Series C funding round led by Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore on Monday.
Hyderabad-based Skyroot plans to utilize the newly acquired capital to drive its next phase of growth through increased investments in infrastructure, reinforcement of its technology leadership, attraction of top-tier talent, and enhancement of its launch frequency and capabilities. The present capital infusion builds upon the company’s previous raise in 2022, bringing its total funding to US$ 95 million, which is the largest ever for an Indian Space-tech startup, according to an official release.
Pawan Kumar Chandana, the Co-founder and CEO of Skyroot, highlighted the significance of the funding round. “This new funding will enable us to accelerate our upcoming launches planned over the next two years even as we prepare for the launch of our second mission early next year. India’s successful moon landing mission has reignited global interest in our space prowess. As a key player in the private space industry, we are amplifying our capabilities to tap into the expanding global satellite launch market with a goal to emerge as a favourite ‘go-to’ choice in space launch services for small satellites,” he said.
Co-founder and COO Bharath Daka added: “We are thrilled to welcome a globally renowned investor like Temasek putting their trust and joining us in this exhilarating phase of our journey. This fund-raise will help us to invest in the enhancement of our production infrastructure, R&D and team strength that will enable us to achieve higher launch cadence in the years to come.”
Skyroot Aerospace, founded in 2018, successfully launched India’s and South Asia’s first, and till date the only, privately developed rocket on November 2022, marking the Indian private space sector’s entry into the space launch market. The company offers on-demand, cost-effective, reliable and regular space launch services to the fast-expanding global small and medium-sized satellite market, with satellite operators who look to deploy single or constellations of satellites across orbits as its customers.
It was the first startup to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) which grants access to cutting-edge facilities and unparalleled expertise. With its Vikram series of rockets, specially designed to deploy small and medium-sized satellites into space efficiently and reliably, Skyroot is poised to transform the space launch capabilities of the country, according to the release.
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