Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s leading private space-tech company, Skyroot Aerospace has raised an additional $27.5 million, equivalent to ₹225 crore, in a pre-Series C funding round led by Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore. The present capital infusion builds upon the company's previous raise in 2022, bringing its total funding to USD 95 million, which is the largest ever for an Indian Space-tech startup. Skyroot plans to utilize the newly acquired capital to drive its next phase of growth through increased investments in infrastructure, reinforcement of its technology leadership, attraction of top-tier talent, and the enhancement of its launch frequency and capabilities, all while maintaining a lean and agile core team, the Hyderabad-headquartered company said in a statement. Founded in 2018 by space scientists-turned-space entrepreneurs, <keyword id="6364836" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pawan-kumar" source="Orion">Pawan Kumar</keyword> Chandana and <keyword id="7537906" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="naga-bharath-daka" source="Orion">Naga Bharath Daka</keyword>, Skyroot is the country's leading private space launch vehicle company. In November 2022, it successfully launched India's and South Asia's first, and till date the only, privately developed rocket, marking Indian private space sector's entry into the space launch market. As the leading player in small and medium space launch vehicle designing and building in India's private sector, the company offers on-demand, cost-effective, reliable and regular space launch services to the fast-expanding global small and medium-sized satellite market, with satellite operators who look to deploy single or constellations of satellites across orbits as its customers. Skyroot was the first startup to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the <keyword id="116095" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-space-research-organisation" source="Orion">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword> (ISRO). The collaboration grants Skyroot access to ISRO's cutting-edge facilities and unparalleled expertise. Skyroot is poised to transform space launch capabilities of the country with its Vikram series of rockets, specially designed to deploy small and medium-sized satellites into space efficiently and reliably. "As we prepare for the launch of our second mission early next year, this new funding will enable us to accelerate our upcoming launches planned over the next two years. India's successful moon landing mission has reignited global interest in India's space prowess. As a key player in India's private space industry, we are amplifying our capabilities to tap into the expanding global satellite launch market with a goal to emerge as a favourite 'go-to' choice in space launch services for small satellites," said Pawan Kumar. Bharath Daka said this fund-raise would help the company to invest in the enhancement of production infrastructure, R&amp;D and team strength. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-and-suv-in-november-2023/slidelist/104817915.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-and-suv-in-november-2023/slidelist/104817915.cms" target="_blank">From the new Renault Duster to Tata Punch EV, upcoming cars launching in India this November</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/delhi-woman-loses-50-lakh-in-sim-swap-scam-heres-how-you-can-stay-safe/articleshow/104745898.cms">Delhi woman loses ₹50 lakh in SIM Swap scam – Here’s how you can stay safe</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/x-starts-rolling-out-audio-and-video-calls-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/articleshow/104716334.cms">X starts rolling out audio and video calls – here’s everything you need to know</a>

Space-tech company Skyroot raises ₹225 cr in pre-Series C funding

The Indian Space Research Organisation (<keyword id="6358064" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="isro" source="Orion">ISRO</keyword>) and <keyword id="10387" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="microsoft" source="Orion">Microsoft</keyword> on Thursday announced a collaboration to fuel the growth of space technology startups in the country. Through this tie-up, the space tech startups identified by ISRO will be on-boarded onto the 'Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub' platform, which supports startups at every stage of their journey from idea to unicorn. "ISRO's collaboration with Microsoft will greatly benefit space tech startups in their analysis and processing of vast amounts of satellite data for various applications, using cutting-edge methods like AI, Machine Learning and <keyword id="2144645" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="deep-learning" source="Orion">Deep Learning</keyword>," said <keyword id="2618685" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="s-somanath" source="Orion">S Somanath</keyword>, Chairman of ISRO. Through 'Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub', space-tech startup founders in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> will have free access to the tech tools, and resources they need to build and run their businesses. This includes technical support to build and scale on Azure, best-in-class developer and productivity tools including GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise and Microsoft 365 and access to smart analytics with Power BI and Dynamics 365. "Through our technology tools, platforms and mentorship opportunities, we are deeply committed to empowering space tech startups in the country to drive cutting-edge innovation and accelerate scientific discovery," said Anant Maheshwari, President of Microsoft India. Microsoft will also provide mentoring support to space tech entrepreneurs in areas ranging from space engineering to cloud technologies, product and design, fundraising and sales and marketing. In addition, founders will have access to Microsoft Learn for tailored startup-centric training content and programmes to help them build connections with the industry and potential customers, said the tech giant. Microsoft and ISRO will also jointly organise knowledge-sharing and thought leadership sessions for the startups with space industry experts. The government has opened up the space sector for private players. The country has more than 100 active startups in the space tech sector. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-infosys-wipro-and-other-it-companies-earnings-preview-for-q3-fy23/articleshow/96731891.cms">December quarter likely to be a weak one for the IT sector – Infosys amongst top analyst picks</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/hyderabadi-satya-nadella-insulted-by-his-own-software-as-it-calls-biryani-a-tiffin/articleshow/96756350.cms">Hyderabadi Satya Nadella 'insulted' by his own software as it calls Biryani a tiffin</a>

Microsoft join hands with ISRO to empower spacetech startups in India

<ul><li><keyword id="2167965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="girish-mathrubootham" source="Orion">Girish Mathrubootham</keyword> is the co-founder and CEO of <keyword id="4621694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshworks" source="Orion">Freshworks</keyword>, which is worth nearly $13 billion.</li><li>“The point is you don't have to fight at that point of time, you don't have to react or respond, but to use it to fire to do something creative,” he says. </li><li>The 46-year old Mathrubootham shared stories from his life’s journey, from his parents’ divorce to scornful relatives, and how he dealt with the down moments in his life, in an interview with Business Insider.</li></ul>“I have had relatives who have told me that I am only good enough to be a rickshaw puller,” says Girish Mathrubootham, the man who went on to build Freshworks, one of the biggest software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies in India. With a valuation of $13 billion, Freshworks has become the first decacorn (a startup valued at over $10 billion) in this space and the first Indian SaaS company to<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/freshworks-ipo-the-success-story-of-indias-first-saas-company-to-be-listed-in-us-stock-exchange/articleshow/86453444.cms"> list on Nasdaq</a>. In a candid conversation with Business Insider, the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) opened up about his early life and the challenges he overcame. The 46-year old Mathrubootham remembered the scornful remarks from 1992, when he couldn't score high enough in his class 12 and entrance exams for engineering ⁠— not from his parents but his relatives ⁠— while speaking about how he dealt with the down moments in his life. “The point is you don't have to fight (the naysayers) at that point of time, you don't have to react or respond, but to use it to fire to do something creative,” Mathrubootham says. <div type="Video" msid="86606660" hostid="261" title="A candid conversation with Freshworks founder and CEO, Girish Mathubootham" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=86606660"></div> “The other thing to do is truly follow your heart, you will be happy,” he adds, while citing multiple examples from the Indian film industry including Rajkumar Hirani’s blockbuster 3 idiots. “Madhavan [R Madhavan, who plays Farhan in 3 Idiots] says, ‘It’s okay I will not have enough money but so what, I will be happy as a wildlife photographer’,” Mathrubootham recites the dialogue. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> ‘Success is not always about money’ He had moved back to India from the US after the dotcom bubble had burst at the turn of the millennium. From earning $85,000 a year in 2001, he was back in India at a job that only paid him ₹40,000 a month in 2005-06. His father, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/meet-girish-mathrubootham-founder-and-ceo-of-freshworks/articleshow/86453777.cms#:~:text=Girish%20Mathrubootham%20is%20the%20star,so%20that%20his%20employees%20could.">a retired bank officer today</a>, was concerned because in his eyes all of Girish’s friends were successful with well paying jobs and had bought their own house. Girish, on the other hand, only had the in-hand salary and a two-bedroom apartment on a loan. “People’s definition of success is different. I was looking at being happy. So I was going after what made me happy, not chasing money. I was enjoying my career, building products and having fun, my friends knew that but I think that was okay,” he adds. ‘Differentiating the well wishers and well informed’ Mathrubootham doesn’t take advice from everyone. “If you are Sachin Tendulkar, who do you take advice from — Gary Kirsten or the other man who is there in every Tendulkar match with the Indian flag painted on his body,” he says. He was referring to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudhir_Kumar_Chaudhary">Sudhir Gautam</a>, a die-hard fan of Tendulkar and one who would famously be seen in every match that Team India played at home. “The said man (Sudhir Gautam) is a well wisher but Kirsten has more knowledge about this field,” Mathrubootham adds. <div type="image" title="Someone said I am good enough to be a rickshaw puller,&amp;quot; shares Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham in a candid chat" msid="86508163" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sudhir Gautam&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “I don’t give the key to my happiness to anyone and recommend my wife to do the same,” Mathrubootham says. An early jolt that made him independent Mathrubootham was young when his parents got divorced. "I would just say that experience also made me who I am and so in a very simple sense that I had to kind of fend for myself, take my own decisions and be accountable for those decisions," he says, adding he doesn’t like taking decisions on other peoples’ part including that of his own children. If you take all the decisions for your children until they’re 25, how do you expect them to go out into the world, he adds. “Decision making also needs experience,” he believes. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/meet-girish-mathrubootham-founder-and-ceo-of-freshworks/articleshow/86453777.cms">Girish Mathrubootham, the son of a retired bank officer who built a $13 billion company in just 10 years </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/freshworks-ipo-lists-on-us-exchange-gives-tribute-to-rajinikanth-during-the-listing-ceremony/articleshow/86452943.cms">Landmark moment for this Rajinikanth fan’s SaaS startup on listing at US exchange </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/we-asked-three-spacetech-entrepreneurs-what-it-takes-to-enter-the-field-and-they-listed-out-the-opportunities/articleshow/86484417.cms">We asked three spacetech entrepreneurs what it takes to enter the field and they listed out the opportunities</a>

WATCH: "Someone said I am good enough to be a rickshaw puller," shares Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham in a candid chat

It’s aptly quoted, “We were born as explorers, not caretakers”. The “beyond planet” fascination is hard to explain but it is what it is. Technology and so much else has changed over the decades since those first footprints in the lunar dust that there’s now a good chance a <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA">NASA</keyword> astronaut won’t be the first to walk out onto the next new world. 
 
TeamIndus, an aerospace start-up based out of Bangalore is going to be the first privately funded company in the world to land a rover on moon and it’ll be done with the help of former ISRO scientists who have worked on projects like Aryabhatta and Chandrayaan-1. 
 
From an IT job to being a space-tech entrepreneur 
 “Rahul Narayan (Co-founder) was working at an IT firm and he then saw this wallpaper of Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) on a desktop. The first thing he did was find out what it was and then call the GLXP office to find out which Indian team was in the competition. Fortunately, there was no one and then at the moment he registered. Quit his job and started pursuing this,” said <keyword id="3453187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sheelika-ravishankar">Sheelika Ravishankar</keyword>, Marketing and Outreach. 
 For an engineer working at an IT firm leaving his job to pursue his dreams has always been a risky venture. Guess what? Risk takers get rewards. He then took this company to a point where <keyword id="44604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nandan-Nilekani">Nandan Nilekani</keyword>, and former Yahoo India R&amp;D chief <keyword id="207306" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sharad-Sharma">Sharad Sharma</keyword> were the first one to invest. Why wouldn’t they be? It’s a matter of national pride and not just equity. 
 
Google Lunar X Prize 
 
The Google Lunar XPRIZE was launched in September 2007. The competition offers a total of US$30 million in prizes to the first privately funded teams to land a robot on the Moon that successfully travels more than 500 meters and transmits back high-definition images and video. 
 
The Spacecraft 
 
The lightest UAV sent on moon was by China, which was nearly 150 kgs. The spacecraft we’re making will carry a 20-kg payload, of which 10 kg will be allotted for commercial use. Yes, they took it to another level (from 150 kgs to 20). “Additionally there are a lot of complications in making an aircraft, we have to take care of temperatures, we have to land on the right spot decided at that moment, right wheels to travel on the surface of moon etc. But we’ve been doing good under the guidance of ISRO experts and our young and enthusiastic colleagues.Of which some of them have left their previous jobs,” said Sheelika. 
 
AI enabled Rover 
 
The rover will be tapped with AI enabled software which will decide where to land at moment. “We looked at all the data from NASA and Russian mission and we found a spot called Mare Imbrium. When the system reaches the surface it has to make decision anonymously. Because it’s moving at a speed of 1.7 kms/sec we needed to have AI in the system. So we collaborated with Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics(LASP), University of Colorado, which is older than NASA.,” said Sheelika 
 
Investment 
 
When asked about how much they need to build a rover and successfully execute the requirements, Sheelika stated that the total sum required is US$70 million and currently they’re in a process to raise another round of US$10 million.

You Searched For "spacetech entrepreneur" and got 4 results

Space-tech company Skyroot raises ₹225 cr in pre-Series C funding

IANS

Microsoft join hands with ISRO to empower spacetech startups in India

IANS

WATCH: "Someone said I am good enough to be a rickshaw puller," shares Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham in a candid chat

Kritti Bhalla

This Indian Startup will be the first privately funded company to land a rover on Moon

Gaurav Sangwani

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides