Exclusive: Skyroot Aerospace raises over $50 Mn in new round

Skyroot Aerospace is raising the largest funding round in spacetech. The company has scooped up $50.5 million in a Series B round led by Singapore-based GIC, making this its second round of funding this year.

Skyroot Aerospace has issued 106 equity shares and 1,15,938 Series B compulsory convertible preference shares at an issue price of Rs 34,728.39 each to raise $50.5 million or Rs 403 crore, its regulatory filings show.

GIC (via Waverly Pte Ltd) has led the round with $47.61 million or Rs 380 crore whereas LNM India Internet Venture has infused $2.88 million or Rs 23 crore. The round appears to be an ongoing one and Skyroot may receive more funds.

Founded by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka in 2018, Skyroot is the first Indian private aerospace company to successfully test a fully cryogenic rocket engine named Dhawan-1 in honour of eminent Indian scientist Satish Dhawan. 

The Hyderabad-based startup claims that it will probably be the cheapest satellite launch vehicle in the world. 

With this new round, Skyroot Aerospace has raised over $67 million to date including seed capital from Mukesh Bansal, a $11 million Series A and a $4.5 million bridge round.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, Skyroot has been valued at around $165 million or Rs 1,304 crore (post allotment). Following the allotment of the Series B round, GIC holds a 30.11% stake while LMN India Internet owns a 1.82% in the four-year-old company.

Skyroot Aerospace has passed another resolution to expand its ESOP pool  by 3,000 options worth Rs 10.4 crore, a separate regulatory filing shows. Skyroot Aerospace had an ESOP pool of 12,223 options which has now been increased to 15,223. As per Fintrackr’s estimates, the total value of the company’s employee stock option pool is worth approximately $6.7 million or Rs 52.9 crore.

Founded in 2018, Skyroot Aerospace remained a pre-revenue stage company until FY21. The company had posted zero operating revenue in the fiscal year ending March 2021 and a net loss of Rs 5.8 crore loss.

The company competes with Agnikul which also raised $11 million in Series A and is reportedly negotiating a new round. Entrackr was the first to break Agnikul’s Series A round. Bengaluru-based Pixxel is another startup in the space which cornered $25 million in March this year.