Spacetech startup EtherealX, has secured $5 million or Rs 42 crore in a seed funding round led by YourNest along with BIG Global Investments JSC, BlueHill Capital, Campus Fund, Golden Sparrow Ventures, and others.
The Bengaluru-based startup intends to use the new funds to design engines for their fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, Razor Crest Mk-1. With absolute reusability, EtherealX has set out to solve the high cost of launch by developing a fully reusable medium-lift vehicle that will assist in cutting down on transportation costs and time taken for launch.
According to Manu J Nair, the CEO of EtherealX, “The funds from this round will be utilized towards the completion of our test facility, final tests and qualification of the 40kN engine for the upper stage, and for the manufacturing of the 925kN semi-cryogenic engine.”
Established in 2022 by Nair, Shubhayu Sardar, and Prashant Sharma, EtherealX is building Razor Crest Mk-1, intending to be the safest and fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle. As for the payloads, the vehicle is capable of accommodating a total mass of up to 24.8 tonnes in expendable mode for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions and 8 tonnes in fully reusable mode.
To strengthen its presence in the space-tech sector, EtherealX aims to develop a Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) to be launched in 2026. Some of the top listed spacetech startups in India include Agnikul, Digantara, Bellatrix, Pixxel, and Skyroot among others. In February this year, spacetech startup Digantara announced the final close of its Series A1 funding round at $12 Million or Rs 99 crore.
Indian spacetech startup Agnikul Cosmos in May successfully tested the first flight or Agnikul Mission 01 of indigenously built rocket Agnibaan SOrTeD. The launch was from the company’s own launch pad that is inside the SDSC-SHAR in Sriharikota.
Notably, more than 150 Startups have collectively raised over $ 285 Mn as of 2023. The Indian space-tech sector is expected to have a market value of about $77 Billion by 2030.
