Indian spacetech startups raise $871 million as Skyroot's orbital launch boosts sector
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India's spacetech startups have raised $871 million across 285 companies, with Skyroot Aerospace leading the sector after becoming the first private Indian company to successfully place a rocket in orbit.
On July 18, Skyroot's Vikram-1 rocket lifted off from Sriharikota, reached a 450-km orbit and deployed four payloads, marking the country's first successful orbital launch by a privately built rocket.
According to startup data platform Tracxn, Skyroot has raised $150 million so far, followed by Pixxel, Agnikul and Digantara.
Vikas Choudhury, founding partner at Playbook Partners, said spacetech funding has traditionally favoured seed-stage companies, but Skyroot's successful launch demonstrated that Indian startups can scale and deliver complex space hardware.
He attributed the sector's growth to three factors: the opening of India's space sector to private companies in 2020, access to ISRO's launch and testing infrastructure through IN-SPACe, and the commercial expansion of the space industry beyond satellites into areas such as defence, data centres and manufacturing.
Choudhury also said India's cost-efficient approach to space technology has strengthened the business case for private investment. He cited the Mars Orbiter Mission, which cost about $74 million, compared with NASA's MAVEN mission, which cost about $671 million.
According to the data, funding for Indian spacetech startups increased from $43 million in 2021 to more than $200 million in 2025. So far this year, the sector has raised $113 million across 24 funding rounds.
Choudhury said India's space economy is projected to grow from $8 billion at present to $44 billion by 2033, creating significant opportunities for investors and private companies.