Dhruva Space looks to raise up to $50 million, faces tough market

“The company is looking to raise $50 million, but it will probably be a smaller round of $20 to $25 million,” one of the people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. “They don’t get a bite from larger institutional investors, but they have the visibility to raise the same amount of funds.”

Dhruva Space has raised $10.2 million of its targeted amount so far: $6 million and another in November $4.2 million In February. The funds came from its existing investors, including Blue Ashva Capital, Indian Angel Network and angel investor Pradeep Sinha.

“The company started the fundraising process about three months ago, but the process was not smooth,” said the second person, who declined to be named. “New investors in scope have not yet been finalized.”

Dhruva Space lost several of its satellites on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (Isro) PSLV-C62 mission in January after the mission failed to reach orbit. PSLV stands for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

Despite sourcing challenges, the first person said the company is well positioned at least in the satellite segment of space technology, given the number of companies emerging in this space. “They’ve basically got everything ready and already built, they can pick up other companies’ payloads and even find a vehicle to take them into space.”

The company has raised $21.4 million in seed and Series A rounds to date.

Queries sent via email to Dhruva Space and some of its investors did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The general deeptech investor sentiment in the space technology industry has been to look for companies that solve niche problems rather than full-stack players doing manufacturing, launch services and ground-based data analytics. Investors generally look for companies in a few main areas: earth observation, space domain awareness, space situational awareness, and in-orbit and in-space services.

The company’s last significant fundraising was a $15 million Series A round in 2024, which attracted participation from IvyCap Ventures, Silverneedle Ventures, Mumbai Angels, Blue Ashva Capital, Indian Angel Network, Primarc Pecan, DSP Mutual Fund and more. According to Tracxn, a startup data intelligence platform.

Dhruva Space was founded in 2012 by Sanjay Nekkanti, Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Abhay Egoor and Krishna Teja Penamakuru, making it one of the early players in the country’s private space industry. The company is a full-stack player offering space engineering solutions, satellite platforms and launch services. Its customers include commercial, academic and government institutions.

The startup’s fundraising comes at a time when investor sentiment about space is on the rise. According to data from Venture Intelligence, the industry raised $276 million across 33 deals last year alone; That was more than the $262 million combined across 28 deals in the previous two years. Notable funding rounds in the past six months include space surveillance startup Digantara’s $50 million fundraising and launch vehicle company Agnikul Cosmos’ $17.5 million raise, valuing the company at $500 million.

Even so, despite all the excitement, investors remain wary of companies that fail to adapt to product market and demonstrate a viable go-to-market strategy. So, as deal-making intensity and valuations slowly increase, diligence remains key for deeptech investors.