Skyroot Aerospace has officially become India’s first space-tech unicorn, reaching a valuation of $1.1 billion after securing $60 million in fresh funding from GIC, Sherpalo Ventures, and BlackRock. This milestone underscores global investor confidence in India’s private space sector and positions Skyroot as a pivotal player in orbital launch services.
India’s Skyroot Aerospace, headquartered in Hyderabad, has achieved a landmark valuation of $1.1 billion, making it the country’s first space-sector startup to cross the billion-dollar threshold.
The achievement follows a fresh funding round of $60 million led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Silicon Valley-based Sherpalo Ventures, with participation from BlackRock. This round brings Skyroot’s total capital raised to $160 million since its inception in 2018.
The company launched India’s first privately developed rocket in 2022, a sub-orbital mission that demonstrated its technical capabilities and marked the beginning of private participation in India’s launch ecosystem.
Skyroot is now preparing for the maiden flight of Vikram-1, India’s first privately developed orbital rocket. This comes at a crucial time, as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has faced consecutive orbital launch failures, creating an opportunity for private firms to step in and bolster India’s launch capacity.
Retired Lieutenant General AK Bhatt, Director General of the Indian Space Association, described the valuation and investor backing as a strong signal to global markets about the credibility of India’s space sector. He emphasised that such milestones will attract further international investment and accelerate the growth of India’s space economy, which the government aims to expand to $45 billion by 2035.
Skyroot’s CEO and co-founder, Pawan Kumar Chandana, highlighted that the ability to launch rockets is a rare and critical capability, possessed by only a handful of countries and private companies worldwide. He noted that Skyroot’s success will encourage more investment into India’s space-tech ecosystem, strengthening the country’s position in the global space race.
Sherpalo Ventures founder Ram Shriram, known for his early backing of Google, will join Skyroot’s board, bringing global expertise and strategic guidance. The funding will be used to increase the frequency of Vikram-1 launches, expand manufacturing capacity, and accelerate the development of Vikram-2, a more advanced orbital launch vehicle.
Skyroot plans to transition from test flights to regular commercial launches, operating on a launch-as-a-service model that charges satellite operators to deploy payloads into orbit.
The rise of Skyroot mirrors the broader transformation of India’s space sector. Once dominated exclusively by government agencies, the sector has rapidly evolved into a dynamic ecosystem with over 300 startups by early 2026.
Private companies are now central to India’s ambition of capturing 8 per cent of the global space market by 2035. This shift is also driven by heightened geopolitical tensions, with India’s security agencies increasingly turning to private firms to develop defensive space assets such as bodyguard satellites.
Skyroot’s trajectory demonstrates how private innovation can complement national space programmes, offering cost-effective and reliable launch services while reducing dependence on foreign providers.
With more than 90 per cent of Vikram-1’s components manufactured domestically, the company embodies India’s push for self-reliance in advanced technology sectors.
Reuters
