Skyroot Aerospace raises $27.5M in Series C round led by Temasek

Space-tech company Skyroot Aerospace, which launched India's first private rocket in 2022, has secured an additional $27.5 million in a pre-Series C funding round led by Singapore government-owned VC, Temasek.

Skyroot intends to use the funds to advance its next growth phase by boosting infrastructure, strengthening its technology leadership, attracting top-tier talent, and improving its launch frequency and capabilities.

"As we prepare for the launch of our second mission early next year, this new funding will enable us to accelerate our upcoming launches planned over the next two years," Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-founder and CEO of Skyroot, said.

"As a key player in India's 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" Pawan added.

Founded in 2018 by space scientists-turned entrepreneurs Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, Skyroot Aerospace launched India and South Asia's first privately developed rocket in 2022. In the past week, the Hyderabad-based company introduced its Vikram-1 rocket, capable of deploying multiple satellites into orbit.

In 2022, the company raised $51 million (Rs 403 crore) in Series B led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, GIC. It was, at the time, the largest funding round in the Indian spacetech sector. The round also saw participation from investors like Myntra and CultFit founder Mukesh Bansal, Solar Industries India Limited, Google board member Ram Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures, Neeraj Arora (Former-WhatsApp Global Business Chief), Wami Capital, and existing investors.

India's spacetech sector has secured almost $123 million in funding, setting a record year for the industry as reported by YourStory's TheCaptable. This continues the funding momentum observed in the sector last year when it received approximately $115 million.