Skyroot Aerospace Hits $1.1B Valuation, Becomes India's First Space-Tech Unicorn
Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace has raised $60 million in a Series C funding round on May 7, 2026, vaulting the small-satellite launch vehicle developer to a post-money valuation of $1.1 billion and making it India's first space-tech unicorn. The round was led by Sherpalo Ventures, GIC, BlackRock, Arkam Ventures, Playbook Partners and Shanghvi Family Office, and lands ahead of the company's much-anticipated Vikram-1 maiden orbital flight.
The fresh capital takes Skyroot's total equity funding to $160 million across nine rounds since its founding in 2018. The Series C is the company's largest cheque to date, surpassing the $51 million Series B tranche raised in August 2022 at a $164 million valuation, and follows a $10.8 million conventional debt facility from BlackRock secured on March 25, 2026. Skyroot's valuation has more than doubled from the $519 million mark set during its October 2023 Series B led by Temasek, GIC and LNM India Internet Ventures.
Founded by IIT Kharagpur and IIT Madras alumni and former ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, Skyroot develops on-demand launch vehicles for the small satellite deployment market. The company is building rockets with carbon composite structures and proprietary engine technology, and offers customers both dedicated and rideshare launch options with custom orbital deployment.
Operationally, the company has scaled rapidly. Headcount stood at 537 as of August 2025, a 134% year-on-year jump from 209 a year earlier. Revenue at SKYROOT AEROSPACE PRIVATE LIMITED rose to ₹32 crore ($3.78 million) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, against ₹29 crore the prior year, while net loss widened to ₹99.7 crore from ₹55.5 crore as the firm continues heavy investment in development. Total assets stood at ₹657.3 crore and inventory at ₹44.4 crore at the close of FY25.
According to the most recent shareholding pattern filed as of March 31, 2025, prior to the Series C round, Singapore-based Waverly Pte. Ltd was the largest shareholder with 31.1%, followed by co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana at 17.4%, Digi Tele Networks Private Limited at 16.6%, co-founder Naga Bharath Daka at 8.6%, and angel investor Mukesh Bansal at 6.4%. MacRitchie Investments Pte. Ltd., Solar Industries India Limited and LNM India Internet Ventures Limited are among other significant holders, with total outstanding shares of 381,018.
The unicorn milestone arrives at a pivotal moment for India's private space industry. Skyroot, which became the first Indian private firm to launch a sub-orbital rocket with Vikram-S in November 2022, is preparing to fly Vikram-1, India's first private orbital rocket. The build-out has been backed by major infrastructure moves, including the inauguration of the Infinity Campus rocket manufacturing facility by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2025 and the allotment of 300 acres near Tirupati for a ₹400-crore production complex. The company has also struck partnerships with Axiom Space and Exolaunch, and brought on former ISRO chairman S. Somanath as honorary Chief Technical Advisor in June 2025.
Skyroot has separately stepped up its corporate investment activity, backing Apollyon Dynamics, a Hyderabad-based developer of unmanned aerial vehicle systems for defence applications, on May 5, 2026.
Skyroot ranks second among 204 competitors tracked in the small-payload launch vehicle segment, where global rivals include SpaceX, Firefly Aerospace, Rocket Lab, Relativity Space and Indian peer AgniKul Cosmos. With Vikram-1's commercial debut imminent and a $30 billion global launch market in its sights, the company has 33 investors on its cap table, including 25 institutions and eight angels, supporting its push into a sector long dominated by state agencies and US incumbents.