SIDBI Announces First Close Of Antariksh Spacetech Fund At INR 1,005 Cr

SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd (SVCL), the investment arm of SIDBI, has announced the first close of Antariksh Venture Capital Fund (AVCF) at INR 1,005 Cr. The fund is anchored by INR 1,000 Cr investment from IN-SPACe, India’s space promotion body. 

The firm is targeting a total corpus of INR 1,600 Cr for the fund from domestic and international investors, including institutional and sovereign funds.

Registered as a Category II AIF with a ten year tenure, the fund will invest across early and growth stage Indian spacetech startups. These spacetech startups offerings would span launch systems, satellites and payloads, in-space services, ground services, earth observation, communications and downstream applications. 

“Over the years, SVCL-managed funds have backed category-defining companies, including unicorns like BillDesk and Data Patterns. The Antariksh Venture Capital Fund, India’s largest spacetech-focused fund and among the largest globally, will play an instrumental role in advancing national space capability and competitiveness,” SVCL’s managing director Arup Kumar said.

Important to mention that the fund received SEBI’s approval on October 31. Shortly afterwards, IN-SPACe and SIDBI signed the contribution agreement to operationalise the VC Fund. In March, SIDBI Venture Capital was selected as the fund manager for the INR 1,000 Cr VC fund. 

The spacetech fund was first announced by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her budget speech in July 2024. The FM had said that the fund was in line with the government’s increased focus on the space economy and private sector-driven research and innovation at the commercial scale.

Speaking with Inc42 in November 2024, IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka had indicated that the fund would become operational in the first quarter of FY26 and is expected to invest in about 35 startups, with average ticket sizes ranging from INR 30–40 Cr. 

He also shared the fund’s plans to deploy capital over the next five years, starting with INR 150 Cr in FY25, followed by INR 250 Cr in each of the next three fiscal years, and INR 100 Cr in FY30. It will cover 60% of project costs for startups and MSMEs and 40% for larger enterprises, focusing on satellite technology, propulsion systems, and ground station infrastructure.

This fund comes alongside other initiatives to boost private participation in India’s space sector. Earlier this year, IN-SPACe launched a INR 500 Cr Technology Adoption Fund, offering up to INR 25 Cr per project. 

The government has also liberalised the FDI regime and opened the space sector for private players, giving rise to a new generation of startups such as Agnikul, Dhruva Space, Digantara, and Pixxel. 

The support from the Centre and other domestic investors comes as the space economy is on its way to become a $77 Bn opportunity in India by 2030, per Inc42 data.