HYDERABAD/MUMBAI: Skyroot Aerospace, which is gearing up to launch India’s first private orbital rocket Vikram-1 into space, has become India’s first spacetech unicorn, with its latest funding round of around $60 million (Rs 568 crore) for a valuation of $1.1 billion.With its second pre-series C funding round, Skyroot also becomes Hyderabad’s second true blue unicorn after HR tech startup Darwinbox, which achieved this status in early 2022.The round was led by existing investors Sherpalo Ventures and GIC with participation from new investors like Blackrock managed funds, Playbook Partners and Shanghvi family office and existing ones like Greenko group founders and Arkam Ventures, among others.With this latest round, Sherpalo founder Ram Shriram, who is one of the early investors in Skyroot and is also on the board of Alphabet Inc, will be joining the Skyroot board. With this, the total funding raised by Skyroot has hit $160 million (Rs 1,515 crore). The latest funding round will help Skyroot achieve its target of one rocket per month from its new Infinity campus in Hyderabad.The fresh capital will be used to ramp up its manufacturing capacities, invest in machinery and testing facilities to help more launches, co-founder & CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana told. TOI in an interview.“We have received interest from customers across the globe especially from the US, Europe and South East Asia,” Chandana said.As part of its orbital launch ambitions, Skyroot is planning two to three rocket test launches before commercial operations begin next year, Chandana said.“We 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. This investment signals confidence from some of the world’s reputed investors,” Chandana added.The company is also looking to develop Vikram-2 — a one-tonne class vehicle with an advanced cryogenic upper stage. The company became India’s first private company to send a rocket to space when its successfully launched sub-orbital rocket — Vikram-S — in Nov 2022.Skyroot is in a pre-revenue stage now but will start making money later this year as commercial launches start kicking in, said Chandana.
