Skyroot Aerospace, a space technology startup, announced that it has raised $4.5 million (approximately Rs 34 crore) in a bridge round to Series B funding led by Google's founding board member Ram Shriram's Sherpalo Ventures. Wami Capital and existing investors - former WhatsApp chief business officer Neeraj Arora and ex-Google executive Amit Singhal - also participated in the round.

Skyroot intends to use the funds to construct the infrastructure needed to launch space vehicles. It plans to launch a spacecraft this year.

"We are thrilled to have support from incredible investors, including Ram Shriram, one of the world's most influential tech investors, validating Skyroot's vision and execution over the last three years," Skyroot co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana said in a statement. Shriram was one of Google's early investors.

"India has long been a leader in rocket launch capability, especially at a significantly lower cost. Skyroot takes that technical strength to the next level, with its innovative and cost-effective space launch capability, disrupting the status quo in the global launch market," Shriram stated.

Skyroot secured $11 million in a Series-A investment headed by Greenko founders last year, with participation from Solar Industries India, WorldQuant Ventures, Graph Ventures, and others.

Mukesh Bansal, the creator of Myntra, funded $1.5 million in the startup's initial round in mid-2018 through his incubator Meraki Labs.

The new funding round raises Skyroot's total money raised to roughly $17 million, making it the highest by an Indian space business to date.

"This round helps us build critical infrastructure early on and helps accelerate towards our launch this year. 2022 is going to be a big year for us and the entire Indian Space ecosystem," Naga Bharath, Skyroot's COO and cofounder, stated.

ISRO and the firm have struck an agreement to share facilities and expertise.