WASHINGTON — Indian launch startup Skyroot Aerospace has raised $60 million in a funding round that gives the company a valuation of more than $1 billion.
Skyroot, based in the Indian city of Hyderabad, announced May 7 a funding round co-led by investment firms Sherpalo Ventures and GIC, with participation from other new and existing investors. The funding brings the total raised by Skyroot to $160 million.
The company said that the round values the startup at $1.1 billion, making it India’s first space “unicorn,” a term for privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more.
Skyroot is developing Vikram-1, a small launch vehicle powered by three solid-fuel stages and a liquid-fuel kick stage. It can place up to 350 kilograms into low Earth orbit and 260 kilograms into sun-synchronous orbit.
Vikram-1 has yet to launch, although the company launched a suborbital prototype in 2022. The first Vikram-1 was recently shipped from the company’s headquarters to the Satish Dhawan Space Center, India’s main spaceport, for additional tests ahead of a launch projected for later this year. The company said in its statement about the funding round that the launch will be “in the weeks following this announcement” but was not more specific.
Skyroot said the funding round will allow the company to scale up production of Vikram-1 and develop Vikram-2, a vehicle with a cryogenic upper stage capable of placing up to 900 kilograms into LEO and 600 kilograms into SSO. The company expects to launch Vikram-2 as soon as 2027.
If Skyroot maintains its schedule, Vikram-1 will be the first privately developed orbital rocket in India to launch. It comes after several years of efforts by the Indian government to enable a commercial space industry in the country that includes launch vehicle companies as well as satellite manufacturers and operators.
“We at Skyroot are excited about the upcoming Vikram-1 launch, India’s first private orbital rocket, marking a significant milestone both for India and the global space sector,” Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and chief executive of Skyroot, said in a statement. “This investment signals confidence from some of the world’s most reputed investors in Skyroot.”
The company emphasized the international background of its investors. Sherpalo Ventures is a venture fund based in California, while GIC is Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. Also participating in the round are funds managed by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company.
“I’ve believed in the Skyroot team since the early days, and that conviction has only deepened as the team marches forward to the launchpad with Vikram-1, India’s first private orbital-class rocket,” said Ram Shriram, founder and managing partner of Sherpalo Ventures, in a statement. “Skyroot is building the foundational infrastructure for that future with the best cost-to-performance ratio in the orbital-launch industry, and what the team has achieved is remarkable.”
Skyroot said that Shriram, an early investor in Google who serves on the board of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will also be joining Skyroot’s board.
