Skyroot is working on the country’s first privately produced space launch vehicle. Mukesh Bansal, creator of Myntra and CultFit, Greenko Group founders Anil Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli, and RamShriram’s Sherpalo Ventures are among Skyroot’s key investors.
The Indian Space Research Organisation and the Indian IT firm have signed an agreement to share facilities and knowledge.
Skyroot Aerospace, a four-year-old space technology business, has received $51 million in Series-B funding. According to the business, this is the largest fundraising round ever in the Indian space-tech sector. GIC, a renowned global investment corporation headquartered in Singapore, led the fundraising round.
Skyroot plans to utilise the funding to grow its space engineering staff, which presently numbers around 200 people.
The money will also assist Skyroot in reaching full-fledged commercial satellite launch size within a year, according to Naga Bharath Daka, co-founder and COO of Skyroot. He noted that it has begun reserving payload slots for subsequent missions. Skyroot announced the development of India’s first privately produced space launch vehicle, named after India’s space program’s founder, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. The Vikram Series rockets have an all-carbon-fibre construction and can launch up to 800 kg of payloads to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), according to the manufacturer.
Skyroot is the first company to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to share facilities and expertise.
Skyroot co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana, said, “Our goal is to position ourselves as a provider of best-in-class rocket launch services and the go-to destination for inexpensive and dependable small satellite launches.”
The financial advisors for this investment round were Rothschild & Co India. Skyroot’s investors include Mukesh Bansal, creator of Myntra and CultFit, Greenko Group founders Anil Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli, Solar Industries India Limited, Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures, Neeraj Arora (Former-WhatsApp Global Business Chief), andWami Capital.
Skyroot’s board will be joined by Mayank Rawat, managing director of GIC India Direct Investment Group. According to a survey, the worldwide space launch services market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 12.25% from $14.21 billion in 2022 to $31.90 billion by 2029.
