Tuesday, 6 August 2024, Bengaluru, India
EtherealX is a space tech startup that raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by YourNest. This funding round saw the participation of several new and existing investors including BlueHill Capital, BIG Global Investments JSC, Golden Sparrow Ventures, and Campus Fund. The angel investors IIFL Wealth’s Yatin Shah & Karan Bhagat, Akhilesh Agarwal, and Kiran Shetty also participated in this ongoing funding round.
The company will use these fresh proceeds to develop the engines for its fully reusable medium-lift vehicle, scale up operations, meet general corporate purposes, and increase its workforce. Earlier, this year the startup secured its first institutional funding from Riceberg Ventures, Campus Fud, and BlueHill Capital. The space tech startup is working on developing a reusable rocket to bring the booster back to Earth after its launch. SpaceX is the only major rocket manufacturing company in the market that commercially operates orbit launched using reusable rockets in the heavy-lift and medium-lift categories. EtherealX is currently focused on developing engines for Razor Crest MK-1. The founder and CEO of EtherealX, Manu J Nair told MoneyControl that the investment will enable the compay to complete its test facility and complete the final tests with qualification of the 40KN engine developed for the upper stage. He mentioned that this fund would also be used to manufacture the 925KN semi-cryogenic engine.
Based in Bengaluru, EtherealX is confident that this funding will enable them to complete their engine development and test the launch of their reusable rocket soon. Their goal is to create the world’s first fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. The firm is designing the model to make it capable of carrying and dispatching payloads of up to 24.8 tonnes to the Lower Earth Orbit in a disposable configuration and around 22.8 tonnes in a partially reusable configuration. This launch vehicle will be able to hold up to 8 tonnes in a fully reusable configuration to 44 km of the Lower Earth Orbit.
Technology and costs have been major challenges for developing class-specific launch vehicles, and EtherealX aims to solve these problems. The startup is solving these problems with a clear tech advantage addressing pricing and frequency problems. Nair mentioned that its investors share the vision with the firm for civilization and high-impact technology and they are working together to revolutionize the space tech sector. The launch vehicle firm is developing will deliver the limited payload into trans-lunar injection orbits and geostationary transfer. This fresh capital will help the startup carry out its launch mission and accelerate its technological growth.
The space tech startup has secured around $5.34 million in funding across two funding rounds since its inception. The data intelligence platform, Traxcn mentioned that the company reported a post money valuation of $2.44 million as of June 2023. The firm currently has five institutional investors including Campus Fund, Bluehill Capital, and YourNest. The largest investor of the company is Campus Fund. The startup faces competition from other space tech companies such as SpaceX, Kinetix, and Blue Origin.
The Indian space tech sector has seen significant progress in recent years. For example, earlier this month, another Bengaluru-based space tech startup, Galaxeye, made a deal with the drone tech startup IdeaForge. This deal involved selling Series A convertible preference shares, raising Rs 8.28 crore. Galaxeye is working on launching a multi-sensor imaging satellite that will provide geospatial analysis for the Indian government and defense sector. The company has also gained access to INSPACE labs and workspace to help launch its first satellite, “DrishtiMission,” this year. Galaxeye also has an agreement with iDEX to build a multi-sensor fusion processing system capable of carrying 150 kg payloads for Indian Air Force satellites.
The funding round of EtherlaX reflects the rapid growth and increased interest in the Indian space tech industry. The startup is backed by five institutional and angel investors. The company has been developing various new products for the reusable rocket technology market. The company’s goal is to develop a fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle to deliver payloads to various orbits, including those around the geostationary orbits.
Last month, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center also announced its collaboration with IN-SPACE to work with Indian startups to build Earth Observation systems based on Space. The program is available for all those companies that have annual revenue of over Rs 200 crore in the past three years or they should have a valuation of Rs 850 crore. Only selected companies will be able to get access to launch the satellites through Indian satellite launching vehicles and monitor the spacecraft’s health.
The government has been trying to enhance the space tech sector in India. The development came just after the Indian government announced its plans to launch a Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund focused on Indian space tech startups. The Indian government has been launching several new programs and funds to help the Indian startup ecosystem grow. The Space tech market is predicted to increase and cross the 77 billion USD mark in the next six years. The Indian space tech ecosystem is benefiting from a supportive environment, both regulatory and financial-wise. Government initiatives aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in space technology are creating more suitable ground for startups. These initiatives, along with strategic collaborations such as Galaxeye and IdeaForge’s collaboration to create a satellite for IAF are driving the sector’s growth.
The progress and the broader developments in the Indian space tech sector highlight a promising future for Space tech companies. The combination of innovative technology, strategic investments, and government policies is creating the stage for significant advancements. The launch vehicle by EtherealX is also contributing to a larger narrative of technological progress and space exploration that has the potential to revolutionize the space tech industry globally. By providing financial support and creating a favorable environment for innovation the government is helping Indian startups compete on a global scale.
Conclusion:
EtherealX is a space tech startup from Bengaluru that manufactures space crafts, and launch vehicles for space solutions. The startup secured 5 million USD in its ongoing seed funding round. The round saw the participation of several existing investors and was led by the institutional investor YourNest with the participation of BIG Global Investments JSC, BlueHill Capital, Golden Sparrow Ventures, Campus Fund, IIFL Wealth’s Yatin Shah & Karan Bhagat, and Akhilesh Agarwal. The development came just after the Indian space tech sector saw increased interest from investors with the increasing CAGR rate. The reusable rockets can be made more accessible and affordable to launch while creating new opportunities by reducing the cost of launching payloads into space.
This space tech startup intends to use these fresh proceeds to complete its test facility and develop the engines for its fully reusable medium-lift vehicle. The supportive environment within India’s space tech sector, with the support of various government initiatives and strategic collaborations, further enhances the potential for technical advancements in the space technology segment. The company aims to develop the first fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle in the world. The company has been designing the launch vehicle to make it capable of dispatching payloads of around 24.8 tonnes to the Lower Earth Orbit in a disposable configuration and over 22.8 tonnes in a partially reusable configuration. The startup believes that this launch vehicle will be able to hold up to 8 tonnes in a fully reusable configuration to 44 km of the Lower Earth Orbit.
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