Briefs · Entrepreneurship
A Unicorn Before Orbit
Skyroot Aerospace had not yet launched a rocket into orbit. Investors valued it at $1.1 billion anyway.
On 7 May, the Hyderabad startup closed a $60 million round, co-led by GIC and Sherpalo Ventures. It became India’s first space unicorn.
The round took total funding to $160 million. The valuation had nearly doubled in about thirty months.
The money has a job. Skyroot will scale Vikram-1 launch cadence, expand manufacturing, and accelerate Vikram-2. Vikram-1, its orbital rocket, was targeted for launch in the weeks after the announcement.
The paradox is the point. A unicorn without an orbital launch is not a contradiction, but rather a bold bet: that the launch will come, and that India will need its own rockets when it does.
Skyroot is selling the future, and the future just paid $60 million.
Read the original at Satellite Today (Via Satellite)
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