Spacetech startup Dhruva Space has raised $9.4 million in a mix of equity and debt from IAN Alpha Fund, Technology Development Board and other existing investors in its latest funding round, according to ETtech report.
The capital infusion, of which Rs 24 crore was in debt, will help the Hyderabad-based startup set up its first phase of its 2.8 lakh sq ft spacecraft manufacturing facility in the city, founder and CEO Sanjay Nekkanti told ET.
The latest funding comes amid a big push from the government towards startups in the spacetech sector. It had invited the founders of spacetech startups such as Agnikul Cosmos, Bellatrix Aerospace, Skyroot Aerospace and Dhruva Space to meet Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk in New Delhi on Monday, a visit that now stands postponed.
In these missions, the startup has sent eight of the total 24 number of payloads in space authorised by the government’s Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) in the last 24 months. These include deployers, satellites, communication systems and nanosatellite platforms, Nekkanti said.
The Hyderabad facility, housed in Shamshabad near the international airport, will comprise manufacturing units for spacecraft solar arrays, satellites subsystems, separation systems for launch vehicles and also an assembly integration and testing facility, Nekkanti added.
The company registered Rs 15 crore in total revenues in the financial year ended March 2024, he added. “We’re looking at a significant revenue multiple next year. In about three to five years, we are looking at about Rs 1,500-2,500 crore in terms of aggregate revenue,” Nekkanti said.
Nekkanti added that the company is also looking to raise another financing round of above $30 million in the 12-18 months to further infrastructure requirements and fulfill some of the programmes being built for customers.
Founded in 2012 by Nekkanti, Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Abhay Egoor and Krishna Teja Penamakuru, Dhruva Space is a space engineering solutions provider based in Hyderabad, India and in Graz, Austria. The company is active across three areas – satellites manufacturing, launch, and ground segments – supporting civilian and defense clients globally.
With the latest round of funding at Dhruva Space, the total corpus raised in series A funding stands at Rs 123 crore (about $14 million).
“With the increasing demand for satellites and satellite-enabled services globally, the funding will be instrumental in supporting the industrialisation and manufacturing of Dhruva Space’s full-stack products, enabling significant team growth, increased development of capability and infrastructure, and fueling the international expansion of our business,” Nekkanti said.
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