Startup Street: Chennai Startup Gets ISRO’s Help In Journey To Space
Here’s the latest on Startup Street this week.
This week on Startup Street, a look at India’s first public-private collaboration in space activities. India’s largest telecom operator backs a gaming startup. And Asia’s oldest exchange gets a new member on its startup platform. Here’s what went on...
Agnikul Signs Agreement With ISRO
Chennai’s Agnikul Cosmos will work closely with the Indian Space Research Organisation to develop a small satellite launch vehicle—the first such private collaboration for India's premier space agency.
The startup has signed a non-disclosure agreement with ISRO that will give them technical assistance and access to the space agency's facilities to develop their launch vehicle, an official statement said. The agreement with Agnikul was the first one signed after the establishment of IN-SPACe, an entity that the government had set up to increase private participation in India's space activities.
“It is a significant step. The ISRO endorsement is beneficial in multiple fronts,” Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Srinath Ravichandran told BloombergQuint via email. “This gives us credibility in the eyes of investors, customers, suppliers and other partners.”
The agreement with ISRO will help Agnikul make orbit faster with fewer mistakes and lesser spending, Ravichandran said.
The nearly four-year-old startup is building a launch vehicle that can take payloads of up to 100 kilograms to low-earth orbit—which is between 160 to 1,000 kilometres above the earth. The vehicle--called Agnibaan--is highly customizable and powered by a semi cryogenic engine.
India already has enough substantial credibility in launching small satellite vehicles. But Ravichandran is sure that Agnibaan will add even more to the country’s existing capabilities. “The rocket can take 30-100 kilograms to space at the same dollar per kg price, in a very short period of time. It could make India the go-to country in terms of launching small satellites.”
Ravichandran, a Wall Street trader-turned-aerospace engineer, co-founded Agnikul with Moin SPM, another aeronautical engineer, in 2017. His idea was simple: “Going to space shouldn’t be the hard part.”
The duo started working from the National Center for Combustion R&D at IIT Madras. In 2018, their startup was incubated at the institution after which they became part of the Airbus Accelerator and did their first series of tests.
“Fundraising was a hurdle when we started raising money but that has changed significantly now,” Ravichandran said. “Policy, technology and other usual hurdles have also become non-issues in the recent past.”
The startup has raised $4 million till date over two rounds. Their marquee investors include Speciale Invest, Pi Ventures, Arth Ventures and LionRock among others.
ISRO has assured full support and mentorship to the startup and aims to see a launch happen as soon as 2022, it said in a statement. “We encourage new players such as Agnikul to explore disruptive technologies and break away from the conventional methods of manufacturing launch vehicles,” ISRO Chairman K Sivan was quoted as saying.
Jio Leads Funding Round In Gaming Startup
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. on Wednesday said it has led a Series-A funding round in augmented reality mobile gaming company Krikey.
The company did not disclose the financial details of the investment. With this round, the total funding in Krikey reached $22 million, it said in a statement.
The startup also launched a new augmented reality game in India 'Yaatra', in which Jio users will get exclusive access to 3D-avataar features.
"Krikey will inspire a generation of Indians to embrace augmented reality. Our vision is to bring the best experiences from across the world to India, and the introduction of Yaatra is a step in that direction," Jio Director Akash Ambani said in a statement.
The game has been launched on Google Play and Apple's iOS app store, and will soon be made available for JioPhone users as well, the statement said.
BSE Startups Gets Its Seventh Listed Member
The Bombay Stock Exchange has said that Net Pix Shorts Digital Media Ltd. has become the seventh company to get listed on its start-up platform.
The Maharashtra based firm is a technology-based entertainment company operating in the niche segment of online short film contents and publishing it on various digital online portals and OTT platforms, a media release by the exchange issued on Wednesday noted.
The company has successfully completed its public issue on Nov. 23, 2020.
"It came out with an initial public offering of 9 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a price of Rs 30 per equity share, aggregating to Rs 2.7 crore," BSE's release said.
The six companies listed on BSE Startups Platform have raised Rs 26.8 crore from the market and total market capitalisation of these companies as on Dec. 2, 2020 is Rs 79.20 crore, BSE said.
With PTI inputs.