Founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana said the funds will support launch operations, manufacturing expansion and development of the next-generation Vikram-2 rocket.

Spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace has become a unicorn after raising $60 million in a fresh round of funding at a valuation of $1.1 billion. It is the first spacetech start-up in the country to achieve the milestone. Experts in the ecosystem have termed it a landmark for the sector, saying it sends a clear message to global players about the country’s emergence in the private space business.

Pawan Kumar Chandana, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Skyroot Aerospace, said the proceeds will be used to establish a steady flow of Vikram-1 launches, scale up manufacturing, and develop Vikram-2, a 1-tonne class launch vehicle powered by an advanced cryogenic stage.

Vikram-1 launch preparations gather pace

The funding round comes as Skyroot prepares for the maiden flight of Vikram-1, the country’s first privately developed orbital rocket. It recently dispatched vital rocket components to Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh from its manufacturing facility in Hyderabad. The company is getting ready for the launch over the next few weeks.

The start-up claims that its services will be the cheapest for organisations that want to send their satellites into the designated orbits.

Global investors back Hyderabad-based startup

The fresh round of funding was co-led by global institutional investor Sherpalo Ventures and GIC, with participation from other existing investors, including the founders of Greenko Group and Arkam Ventures.

Sherpalo Ram Shriram, a well-known tech investor and a board member of Alphabet Inc., will be joining the board of Hyderabad-based spacetech start-ups.

Funds managed by BlackRock, a global asset management company, Playbook Partners, a tech growth capital firm, and Shanghvi Family Office also join the investment partners.

Building on Vikram-S milestone

Targeting a launch in the weeks following this announcement, Vikram-1 is designed to provide dedicated, customisable access to space for global satellite operators. The upcoming mission builds on Skyroot’s historic 2022 mission — when it launched India’s first privately built rocket, Vikram-S. AK Bhatt, Director General of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said that Skyroot Aerospace becoming India’s first space-tech unicorn marked a “defining moment for the country’s private space ecosystem”.

“This milestone is far more than a financial achievement; it is the symbolic coming-of-age of India’s space start-up landscape and a powerful validation of the technological ingenuity, entrepreneurial ambition, and commercial agility that Indian companies now bring to the global space sector,” he felt.

This achievement sent a strong signal to global investors that India had built a credible and innovation-driven space ecosystem and would go a long way in securing a 10% share of the global space economy by 2033, he said.

Pawan K Goenka, Chairman of INSPACe (Department of Space), also congratulated the Skyroot team for breaching the crucial financial milestone.

Published on May 7, 2026