Dhruva Space lands Rs 60 crore as India's first space VC fund makes debut bet

What's the deal? Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space has become the first company to receive backing from the Antariksh Venture Capital Fund (AVCF), India's venture capital fund dedicated to the space sector. It secured Rs 60 crore in the fund's inaugural investment.

Who's behind the fund? The AVCF, with a corpus of more than Rs 1,000 crore, was established under IN-SPACe and is managed by SIDBI Venture CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →). It aims to provide institutional capital to space-tech startups at various stages, supporting scaling and the commercialisation of new technologies.

What's the endgame? Dhruva Space says it will use the money to expand as a full-stack space engineering company, strengthen sovereign spacecraft manufacturing, accelerate product development, and scale infrastructure.

What are they saying? Co-founder Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy called the investment "a strong endorsement of Dhruva Space's vision, execution, and long-term commitment to building sovereign Space capabilities from India."

Arup Kumar, managing director and chief executive officer of SIDBI Venture Capital, said the deal reflects a belief that "the next generation of space leaders will be built by companies that can integrate innovation, manufacturing, mission execution, and commercial deployment under one roof."

The signal: India's push to open its space sector to private capital now has a dedicated fund putting money to work. The first cheque going to a manufacturing-focused startup signals where state-backed investors see the country's commercial space edge.

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