For decades, India’s space story belonged almost entirely to ISRO. Rocket launches were state-led spectacles, carefully controlled, technologically ambitious, and largely insulated from the chaos of startup culture.
Then came two former ISRO engineers from Hyderabad who believed private Indian companies could build rockets too.
Now, eight years after its founding, Skyroot Aerospace has become India’s first space-tech unicorn after raising nearly $60 million at a $1.1 billion valuation. The round was co-led by Sherpalo Ventures and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, with participation from BlackRock and existing investors.
That sentence sounds like another startup funding headline. It is not.
Because unlike most unicorns chasing food delivery, fintech, or AI workflows, Skyroot is trying to solve something much harder: launching rockets from India into orbit at commercial scale.
And suddenly, India’s private space race is no longer theoretical.
India’s New Space Economy
Skyroot’s rise is happening alongside one of the biggest structural changes in India’s space sector.
Until 2020, India’s private participation in space remained tightly restricted. Most launch infrastructure, testing facilities, and mission operations were controlled by the government. Then New Delhi opened the sector to private companies and created the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre, better known as IN-SPACe, to regulate and enable commercial participation.
That policy shift triggered an explosion of space startups across satellite manufacturing, launch systems, propulsion, and earth observation technologies. But Skyroot moved faster than most.
Founded in 2018 by former ISRO scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, the company made global headlines in 2022 after launching Vikram-S, India’s first privately developed rocket to reach space.
The mission lasted only minutes. But symbolically, it changed everything. India’s space sector suddenly looked less like a government monopoly and more like the beginning of a commercial ecosystem.
Skyroot Aerospace Next Project
Skyroot’s next mission matters far more.
The company is preparing for the maiden orbital launch of Vikram-1, which would become India’s first privately built orbital rocket. The launch vehicle is designed to carry satellites weighing up to 350 kilograms into low Earth orbit.
That distinction is important. Suborbital launches prove engineering capability. Orbital launches create actual launch businesses. And launch businesses are where the real global space economy lives.
Skyroot says Vikram-1 uses carbon composite structures, 3D-printed engines, and modular manufacturing systems designed to reduce launch costs and increase launch frequency.
The startup is also building a larger Vikram-2 vehicle powered by an advanced cryogenic stage capable of carrying heavier payloads. That ambition explains why investors are suddenly paying attention. Because rockets are no longer just government prestige projects. They are infrastructure.
Why Investors Suddenly Care
The space economy has changed dramatically over the last decade.
Satellite launches are becoming cheaper. Earth observation is turning into a commercial data business. Defence agencies increasingly rely on private contractors. Meanwhile, smaller satellites are creating demand for dedicated launch providers instead of waiting for shared missions aboard giant rockets.
Skyroot is positioning itself inside that shift. The company says the new funding will help scale manufacturing capacity, increase launch cadence, and accelerate development of future rockets.
The investor list also says something larger about India’s space ambitions. Sherpalo Ventures is run by Ram Shriram, one of Google’s earliest investors. GIC is Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager.
This is no longer “startup optimism.” Global institutional capital is beginning to treat Indian space infrastructure as a serious long-term sector. And timing matters here.
Globally, commercial launch systems are dominated by companies like SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and Blue Origin. India is nowhere near that scale yet. But investors increasingly believe India could become a low-cost launch ecosystem for smaller payloads and emerging satellite markets. Skyroot wants to become one of the companies defining that future.
ISRO’s Startup Generation
One of the most fascinating parts of Skyroot’s story is that it was born from ISRO itself. Both founders previously worked inside India’s space agency before leaving to build rockets independently. That reflects a broader shift now happening across India’s deep-tech ecosystem.
The country’s most ambitious startups are increasingly emerging from government science institutions, semiconductor labs, aerospace programs, and defence research environments rather than traditional software backgrounds.
Space startups particularly benefit from this pipeline because India already possesses decades of launch expertise through ISRO.
The difference is that private companies are now trying to commercialize it faster. That creates a strange new dynamic: ISRO is no longer just launching rockets. It is indirectly producing entrepreneurs who may eventually build India’s commercial space industry around it.
Hard Part Starts Now
Becoming a unicorn is impressive. Building a reliable rocket company is much harder. The global launch industry is brutal, capital intensive, and technically unforgiving. Even established private players globally have suffered failed launches, delayed timelines, and enormous cash burn.
Skyroot itself has faced launch delays with Vikram-1 as it works through testing and technical reviews. Still, investor confidence appears unusually strong.
Part of that confidence comes from India’s growing geopolitical importance in technology manufacturing and strategic infrastructure. Part comes from the broader belief that the future space economy will require far more launch capacity than governments alone can provide.
And part of it comes from something simpler: India has spent decades proving it can reach space cheaply. Now startups are trying to turn that national capability into a scalable business model. If Vikram-1 succeeds, Skyroot will not just become another unicorn story. It may become proof that India’s private space era has officially arrived.
The Logical Indian Perspective
Skyroot Aerospace becoming India’s first space-tech unicorn reflects a larger transition in the country’s innovation economy, where deep-tech sectors are finally attracting serious global capital.
The company’s rise also signals how India’s space ambitions are expanding beyond state-led missions toward commercial infrastructure, private launches, and startup-driven innovation.
At the same time, the real challenge begins now. Building a sustainable rocket business requires long-term execution, technical reliability, and global competitiveness. If successful, startups like Skyroot could reshape India’s position in the rapidly growing private space economy.
