EtherealX's $20 Million Funding Shock: What This Spacetech Startup Knows That You Don’t!

The Indian space startup Ethereal Exploration Guild, known as EtherealX, has successfully raised $20.5 million in its latest funding round, co-led by TDK Ventures and BIG Capital. This funding round also saw contributions from notable investors such as Accel, Prosus, YourNest Venture Capital, BlueHill Capital, Campus Fund, and Riceberg Ventures. EtherealX's achievement comes amid a surge in investor interest in India’s burgeoning private space industry, highlighted by recent funding rounds for other companies like Digantara Industries, which raised $50 million, and Agnikul Cosmos, which secured $17 million at a valuation of approximately $500 million.

EtherealX was founded in 2022 by Manu J Nair, Shubhayu Sardar, and Prashant Sharma. The startup is focused on developing fully reusable medium-lift rockets, designed to carry over 20 tonnes to low Earth orbit. The firm has drawn comparisons to SpaceX due to its emphasis on full reusability, which includes returning both the booster and upper stages of the rocket after launch. “There are two broad technical milestones we are targeting. One is the qualification of the booster stage, and the other is the flight qualification of the upper stage,” Nair stated.

Although EtherealX has yet to conduct its first orbital launch, it has already made significant strides in securing customer interest. According to Nair, the company has engaged in late-stage discussions and has signed launch Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with customers worth up to $130 million. Notably, EtherealX has sought partnerships with “harder customers,” including large government-authorized launch aggregators, launch contractors, government space agencies, and established private sector players. “We deliberately did not go after research institutions or early-stage startups. We focused on customers who have real paying capacity and who are typically very difficult to access,” Nair explained.

Medium-lift launches currently represent over 85% of all global launches, a figure that has now risen to approximately 91%, according to Nair. This growing demand presents a significant opportunity for EtherealX, which plans to test its technology demonstrator vehicle (TDV) in 2027. The TDV will stand at around 35 meters tall and will incorporate a booster stage powered by eight in-house Stallion engines, alongside an upper stage. The primary aim of this mission is data collection rather than immediate commercial deployment.

Looking ahead, EtherealX aims to conduct the first flight of its flagship reusable launch vehicle, the Razor Crest Mk-1, by the end of 2028, thereby initiating commercial launch operations. Nair has pointed out that the current launch market is largely unipolar, dominated by SpaceX. “When over 83% of global payloads are launched by a single vehicle, that’s not market dominance, it’s market dependence,” he noted. He believes that India is well-positioned to help reshape this landscape, stating, “We see an opportunity to make it multipolar. India is perfectly positioned for that, geographically and technologically.” He added that while a multitude of launch players are likely to emerge globally, each market segment will probably be led by a handful of dominant platforms.