Indian space technology startup Skyroot Aerospace raises $51 million in GIC-led funding round

• Skyroot develops India’s first privately developed space launch vehicle.
  
• Skyroot’s major investors include Myntra and CultFit founder Mukesh Bansal, Greenko Group founders – Anil Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli, and Google board member RAM Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures.
  
• The Indian tech startup has an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organization for sharing facilities and expertise.

Skyroot Aerospace, a four-year-old aerospace technology startup, has raised $51 million in a Series-B funding round. The company claims this is the largest funding round ever in India’s space technology sector.

The financing round was led by GIC, a leading global investment firm headquartered in Singapore.

Skyroot will use the money to expand its aerospace team, which currently employs nearly 200 people.

The funding would also help the company reach full commercial satellite launch scale within a year, said Naga Bharath Daka, co-founder and COO of Skyroot. It has started booking payload slots for the upcoming launches, he added.

Skyroot said it is developing India’s first privately developed space launch vehicle, named after Indian space program founder Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Built with an all-carbon fiber structure, the Vikram series rockets can launch up to 800kg of payload into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the company said.

Skyroot is the first startup to sign an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for sharing facilities and expertise.

“Our goal is to establish ourselves as a provider of the best rocket launch services and the destination for affordable and reliable small satellite launches.” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot.

Rothschild & Co India were the financial advisors for this financing round.

Skyroot’s investors include Myntra and CultFit founder Mukesh Bansal, Greenko Group founders – Anil Chalamalasetty & Mahesh Kolli, Solar Industries India LimitedGoogle board member Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures, Neeraj Arora (former WhatsApp Global Business Chief) and Wami capital.

Mayank Rawat, director of GIC India Direct Investment Group, will join Skyroot’s board of directors.

According to an
reportThe global space launch services market is expected to grow from $14.21 billion in 2022 to $31.90 billion in 2029, growing at a CAGR of 12.25%.

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