Skyroot Raises $60M, India's First Spacetech Unicorn

Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace raised $60 million in a funding round on Thursday, becoming India's first spacetech unicorn with a valuation of $1.1 billion.

The round was co-led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and Sherpalo Ventures, with participation from BlackRock, the founders of Greenko Group, Arkam Ventures, Playbook Partners, and the Shanghvi Family Office, among others. New investors included Playbook Partners and the Shanghvi Family Office, while others were existing backers. The infusion brings Skyroot's total funding to approximately $160 million, more than doubling its valuation from nearly $520 million in 2023.

Founded in 2018 by former Indian Space Research Organisation engineers, Skyroot has focused on developing privately built launch vehicles. The company achieved a milestone in November 2022 with Vikram-S, India's first privately developed rocket to reach space on a suborbital mission. It was the first private space startup to secure access to ISRO's launch and test facilities after India opened its space sector to private players in 2020.

Skyroot now targets the global small-satellite market with Vikram-1, its flagship orbital launch vehicle designed...