Chennai, Oct 17 (IANS) Rocket startup Agnikul Cosmos on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 200 crore ($26.7 million) to scale its existing technology towards commercialisation as well as invest in key facilities such as mobile launchpads and other test rigs necessary for addressing launch-on-demand customer needs.

According to Agnikul Cosmos, the latest round saw participation from venture capital investors such as Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc, Artha Venture Fund and Artha Select Fund, Mayfield India, along with participation from existing investors pi Ventures, Speciale Invest, Mayfield India and others.

With this, the total amount of capital raised by the company is about $40 million.

In August 2023, Agnikul commenced the integration process of its launch vehicle, Agnibaan SOrTeD (SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator), with its private launchpad located at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at Sriharikota.

This significant step brings Agnikul closer to realising its first controlled vertical ascent test, which would validate all technological building blocks necessary for complex orbital missions, the company said.

Reflecting on the fund raise, Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO of Agnikul, said, “With this capital, we will continue to drive our technology forward, building facilities and testing systems that we need to deliver a reliable product for our customers.”