Agnikul Cosmos, a startup in space technology, has raised $26.7 million from backers including investment firm Rocketship.vc and deep tech venture capital firm Celesta Capital, among others. Existing investors Mayfield, Artha Venture Fund, Pi Ventures, and Speciale Invest participated in the financing round as well. The company withheld the valuation at which it raised the money, but Co-Founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran claimed it was larger than the amount given to the company in earlier rounds of funding.

According to Ravichandran, the company with its headquarters in Chennai would use the money to expand its manufacturing and testing facilities and grow its staff. The company's two primary offerings are the "Agnibaan" satellite launcher, which may be customised, and the "Dhanush" mobile launch platform, which is based on a truck that has been modified. The goal is to enable customers to customise their vehicles to meet their needs and receive the appropriate pricing. Because clients already have access to other vehicles, Ravichandran stated that we want to present ourselves as having highly adjustable vehicles that will answer the market's current pain points.

Founded in 2017 at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras by Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and SR Chakravarthy, Agnikul most recently secured $20 million over 2022 from investors including Mayfield and Artha Venture Funds. The company reportedly opened India's first launchpad developed and run by a private player at Sriharikota in November 2022 along with a mission control centre.

Agnikul, India's response to SpaceX, is positioned to change the space sector both domestically and internationally. We wish the crew, which is driven by Srinath, Moin, and Prof. Satya, every success on their maiden expedition. The fact that Agnikul was founded in our old university, IIT Madras, has been a special bonus for us, according to Sailesh Ramakrishnan, managing partner of Rocketship.vc.

The company plans to test-fly its vehicle by the end of this year and hopes to launch its first commercial launch by the middle of 2023. He stated without providing more information that it is in discussions with possible customers in India, Europe, Japan, and the US to launch satellites for use in the domains of imaging and communication.