“Despite a global slowdown in funding, the Indian space technology sector has been experiencing an upward trend, driven by substantial government support and significant innovations,” said the data provider.
India has more than 100 space technology startups, the majority of which were founded in the past five years. The budget proposed a venture capital fund of Rs 1,000 crore. As per the Economic Survey released before the budget,India has 55 active space assets, including communication, meteorological and earth observation satellites.
Funding in the sector is predominantly driven by early-stage investments, Tracxn said. In 2023, early-stage rounds attracted $120 million of the total $126 million raised, up 5% from $114 million in 2022. In 2024, early-stage funding has reached $8.5 million to date. Seed-stage funding increased 24% to $5.3 million in 2023 from $4.3 million in the previous year.
“However, despite this growth in early-stage and seed-stage funding, the nascent ecosystem for private sector participation in Indian space technology startups has not yet experienced any late-stage funding,” said the private market research company.
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Skyroot Aerospace is the highest-funded active space technology startup in India, with an overall funding of $99.8 million, followed by Pixxel ($71.7 million) and Agnikul ($61.5 million). No other startup in this segment has raised more than $50 million yet. The top-funded business models in this segment include small satellite launch vehicles (SSLV), satellite imaging services and satellite communication services. The SSLV segment has attracted $168 million to date, with Skyroot Aerospace raising the highest funding in this category, as per Tracxn.Bengaluru leads the list of top-funded cities in India’s space technology sector, followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. Startups based in Bengaluru have received more than 55% of the total funding in this sector, and it is also the city with the highest number of space technology startups.
Among the top investors in the sector are Speciale Invest, Anicut Capital and GrowX Ventures. Anicut Capital, LetsVenture and Rosmerta Technologies have been the leading seed-stage investors over the past two years, while Ban Labs, Anicut Capital and Artha Venture Fund have emerged as the top early-stage investors.
“Despite the vibrant funding landscape, no acquisitions have been observed in 2024 YTD (year to date),” Tracxn said.
The only acquisition to date is the 2022 purchase of Prakshep, a satellite imagery provider for the agricultural industry, by Arya.
“Additionally, the sector has yet to witness the emergence of unicorns,” Tracxn said.
MTAR and Ananth Technologies are the only public companies in this sector.
The International Astronautical Federation awarded India the prestigious World Space Award for its successful launch of Chandrayaan 3, which made history in 2023 as the first mission to achieve a soft landing near the moon’s south pole.