Spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace raises $27 Mn led by Temasek

Spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace has raised Rs 225 crore ($27 million approximately) in a pre-Series C round led by Temasek. It is the third funding round for the Hyderabad-based company since January 2022. To date, the company has raised $95 million.

Skyroot plans to utilize the funds to drive its next phase of growth, reinforcement of its technology leadership, enhancement of its launch frequency and capabilities and to hire new talents. The new round will also enable the firm to accelerate its upcoming launches planned over the next two years, company co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana said in a press release.

The current valuation couldn’t be ascertained. As per TheKredible’s estimates, Skyroot was valued at around $165 million or Rs 1,304 crore (post allotment) during Series B round in September last year.

The company is backed by the likes of Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc, Artha Venture Fund, Mayfield India, Pi Ventures and Speciale Invest.

Founded by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists 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 company recently announced the successful launch of Vikram-S, India's first privately developed rocket.

Data compiled by TheKredible shows that spactech startups have attracted around $120 million in funding in the ongoing calendar year. This is a significant jump from $95 million in 2022 and $33 million in 2022 and 2021.

Agnikul Cosmos, one of the closest competitors of Skyroot, recently raised nearly $27 million from Celesta Capital and others. Besides Agnikul, Skyroot also counts Pixxel, Bellatrix, GlaxEye, Dhruva, Vesta Space, Digantara, and InspeCity as its competitors.

Digantara raised $10 million in Series A1 funding in June whereas Pixxel raised $36 million in a Series B round from new investors, including Google. Satsure and PierSight raised their new round in August and September, respectively.

Until FY23, the five-year-old startup was in a pre-revenue phase. It posted only Rs 40 lakh in revenue while its losses touched Rs 55 crore, according to its annual financial statement filed with the Registrar of Companies.