Mumbai Angels strikes maiden space-tech deal with Dhruva Space

Hyderabad based Dhruva Space, a startup that provides end-to-end solutions from building small satellites, has raised $0.7 million in an angel funding round from Mumbai Angels Network and other angel investors from outside the network.

The round was led by road infrastructure material and solutions provider Hotcrete’s managing director Ravikanth Reddy. In total, 37 investors from Mumbai Angels Network, across all its chapters, participated in the round, the statement added.

The deal marks Mumbai Angel Network’s first deal in the nascent space-tech sector.

“I'm backing Dhruva because of their cutting edge satellite and communications technology and a strong founding team. Space is a sector that will be an integral part of many critical applications in the future. I will advise them from time to time and provide relevant contacts to help them grow,” Reddy said. 

Founded in 2014 by Abhay Egoor, Krishna Teja, Sanjay Srikanth, Dhruva Space enables corporates to build, launch and track the constellation of small satellites. The startup makes ground sensors, launches them and monitors the same via earth stations. The company is working with the Indian government’s ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and European Space Agency (ESA).

The space-tech startup has been awarded a grant from the European Space Agency (ESA) for 50,000 Euros. Once they set up an entity in Austria and complete the other necessary formalities as part of the agreement, they will be able to access the grant, the statement added.

“We see a strong wave in space startups both from the number of companies approaching us for investments and investors keen to invest in this space,” Nandini Mansinghka, CEO of Mumbai Angels Network, said.

Space technologies companies in India’s privatized sectors although nascent have garnered investor interest in recent months. In June, Bengaluru-based Bellatrix Aerospace, a research and development firm that specializes in satellite propulsion, raised $3 million in a seed round of funding.

Mumbai-headquartered Kawa Space, which designs and operates earth observation satellites, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma in September.

These developments shed new light on technological capabilities of India’s space exploration interests, especially given how the government has held decades-long monopoly in the sector with ISRO.