Dhruva Space, an Indian company that offers full-stack space engineering solutions and is headquartered in Hyderabad, has successfully closed a Series A fundraising round valued at INR 123 crores. The money will be used for the company’s planned spaceship manufacturing facility, its plans for strategic business acquisitions, and the improvement of its product line in order to introduce it to the international market.
Indian Angel Network Alpha Fund, Blue Ashva Capital, Silverneedle Ventures, BIG Global Investment JSC (BITEXCO Group), IvyCap Ventures, Mumbai Angels, and Blume Founders Fund were among the investors who made a substantial contribution to Dhruva Space’s Series A round. Series A1 and Series A2 revenue for Dhruva Space were INR 45.51 and INR 78 crore, respectively. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) venture finance worth INR 10 crores is part of Series A2, along with an INR 14 Crores venture debt from Technology Development Board.
In the past 24 months, Dhruva Space has launched eight payloads, including the LEAP-TD mission on January 1, 2024, and the Thybolt satellites mission in November 2022. Building on this, the company’s P-30 and P-90 nanosatellite platforms will be launched by a number of customers in the upcoming years. This demonstrates the breadth of Dhruva Space’s global commercial partnerships, which include joint ventures with CNES, Kinéis, Comat, Swedish Space Corporation, an Australian company involved in the LEAP-1, and several satellite imaging providers worldwide. With this fresh funding, Dhruva Space can launch the first phase of its 280,000-square-foot spacecraft manufacturing facility, which is strategically located in Shamshabad, Telangana, and cover about 120,000 square feet. This will allow the company to continue funding operations and commercialization efforts.
“This funding round is a testament to the international recognition of Dhruva Space’s capabilities and long-term impact,” says Sanjay Nekkanti, CEO and co-founder of the company. “Our goal has always been to provide clients affordable, integrated full-stack technological solutions that enable them to travel to space often and safely. The funding will be crucial in supporting Dhruva Space’s full-stack product industrialization and manufacturing, enabling significant team growth, increased capability and infrastructure development, and driving our business’s international expansion given the growing demand for satellites and satellite-enabled services worldwide.”
The company’s co-founder and chief financial officer, Chaitanya Dora, continues, saying, “We have strong, visionary investors who have supported and believed in Dhruva Space throughout the years, going beyond just financial assistance to include collaboration. With a 300% yearly revenue growth since 2019, Dhruva Space has been growing profitably. This fundraise enables us to continue expanding, make investments in new ideas, and strengthen our position in the international space industry.”
“We are very excited by the stellar team of Dhruva Space founders: Sanjay Nekkanti, Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Abhay Egoor, and Krishna Teja Penamakuru,” says Padmaja Ruparel, Senior Partner, IAN Alpha Fund. “They showed that they could develop cutting-edge solutions in a resilient and capital-efficient manner for one of the most challenging industries in the nation. We are more optimistic that Dhruva Space will carve out a niche for itself in the international space-tech sector because to their enthusiasm and experience.”
The CEO and founder of Blue Ashva, Satya Narayan Bansal, has expressed his enthusiasm for Dhruva Space’s innovative efforts. “Start-ups equipped with Space-qualified technologies are indeed rare, and Dhruva Space stands out prominently among them,” Bansal said. “Achieving four successful Space missions within a span of two years underscores Dhruva’s remarkable pace and proficiency in execution. The recent successful validation of the P-30 nanosatellite aboard the PSLV-C58 further solidifies Dhruva’s position as a premier destination for global players seeking to deploy their subsystems in Space”, Bansal continued, “highlighting Dhruva Space’s most recent accomplishment. Dhruva is a great business to invest in since it has successfully positioned itself as the “Shopify” for individuals looking to use hosted payload services globally.”
