Hyderabad Stories published this report on 11 October 2026 as part of a review of May 2026. It was drafted with AI assistance from the reports listed at the end, each read in full; quotations are as those reports printed them. Photo above — Skyroot Aerospace's headquarters in Hyderabad.
On 7 May 2026 Hyderabad's Skyroot Aerospace announced a $60 million equity round that valued it at $1.1 billion, making it India's first space-technology unicorn.
The round was co-led by Sherpalo Ventures and Singapore's GIC, with funds managed by BlackRock, the founders of Hyderabad's Greenko Group, Arkam Ventures, Playbook Partners and the Shanghvi Family Office among others. It brought the company's total funding to $160 million; its valuation had nearly doubled in about 30 months.
Skyroot said the money would scale up launch cadence for its Vikram-1 rocket, expand manufacturing and speed up development of the larger Vikram-2, with an aim of 72-hour assembly-to-launch for Vikram-1.
"Access to space is one of the key challenges of our time," said Ram Shriram, founder and managing partner of Sherpalo Ventures. Co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana told The Week: "I always wanted to start a company; at IIT, I realised it is doable."
Later: Vikram-1 reached orbit on its maiden flight on 18 July 2026 — see our July report.
Sources
- Skyroot Aerospace becomes India's first space tech unicorn — The Week, 7 May 2026
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