Varda Space Industries, Inc., an El Segundo, CA-based in-space manufacturing and hypersonic Earth re-entry logistics company, closed a $90m Series B funding.
The round was led by Caffeinated Capital, with participation from Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, and Khosla Ventures.
The company, which has raised $145m to date, intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.
Founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov, Varda Space Industries is designing and building the infrastructure needed to make low Earth orbit accessible to industry, from in-orbit production equipment to reliable and economical reentry capsules. Since opening in 2021, the company has launched and reentered its first hypersonic reentry capsule, the W-1. The capsule’s payload included an experiment to reformulate Ritonavir, a antiretroviral drug primarily used to treat HIV.
In addition to the reentry of the W-1 capsule earlier this year, the team has also published on the discovery of a third form of the HIV drug Ritonavir, as well as the development of a hypergravity crystallization platform, which has shown ways that gravity can be used as a variable in small molecule therapeutics formulation and development. Varda’s second vehicle, W-2, is scheduled to launch this summer.
Varda operates out of El Segundo, California, with 90+ employees, as well as office and industrial production space.
FinSMEs
05/04/2024