Almost six years after India opened its space sector for private players in May 2020, the country’s booming private sector space industry has got its first unicorn. Launch vehicle startup Skyroot Aerospace on Thursday announced raising nearly $60 million at a pre-money valuation of $1.1 billion.
The round was co-led by Sherpalo Ventures and GIC, a global institutional investor, with participation from other existing Skyroot investors, including the founders of Greenko Group and Arkam Ventures. The founder of Sherpalo, Ram Shriram, a tech investor and a Board member of Alphabet Inc, will join Skyroot’s Board. Also joining the cap table are funds managed by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, Playbook Partners, a tech growth capital firm, Shanghvi Family Office, and others.
The private sector’s race to space is drawing record funding. According to data shared by the Indian Space Association, the easing of policies has helped industry funding jump 84 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024. In 2026, the industry attracted $113.5 million in the first five months alone. This was mainly driven by the $60 million funding by Skyroot Aerospace.