IN-SPACe Funds Three Spacetech Startups Under Technology Adoption Fund

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has picked the first set of three Indian spacetech startups for funding under its Technology Adoption Fund (TAF) Scheme. 

Astrobase Space Technologies, SatSure Analytics and TakeMe2Space have been selected by the agency for financial support to foster their tech.

IN-SPACe said in a statement that it will offer technical guidance, monitoring, and ensure milestone-linked disbursement of funds to ensure successful implementation of their projects.

This is the first instance when the agency has invested in Indian startups. However, its investment thesis has been in the making for more than a year now. The investment for every project was capped at ₹25 Cr.

Under the TAF scheme:

• Astrobase Space, which was founded by former ISRO propulsion engineer Devakumar Thammisetty and CoinDCX co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal in 2024, will be developing a high-thrust closed-cycle liquid rocket engine (800 kN) for space launch vehicles.
• SatSure Analytics, which was founded in 2017 by Prateep Basu, Rashmit Singh Sukhmani, and Abhishek Raju, will develop a large earth observation model (LOM) called Dhaarini, designed to serve as India’s foundational AI platform for remote sensing applications. 
• Founded in 2023 by ex-NowFloats cofounder Ronak Kumar Samantray, TakeMe2Space is working on building AI models directly on satellites in orbit that can be rented and operated.

“By offering this financial support, we are empowering the private sector to work on cutting-edge space technologies. These projects are not just innovative concepts; they are practical, market-ready solutions that will increase our footprint in the global space economy,” IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka said.

The development comes at a time when the country’s spacetech sector is evolving at a very rapid pace. Funding in this sector has increased, where startups in this sector raised $530 Mn, marking a 13X jump over the past five years, based on Inc42’s data. 

Earlier this year, 360 ONE Asset launched a multi-stage defence and space strategy fund, with a target corpus of ₹1,000 Cr.

Meanwhile, IN-SPACe also launched a new programme for private space companies to design and build small satellite bus platforms in April 2025. Under this, it selected three homegrown startups Astrome Technologies, Azista Industries and Dhruva Space to build indigenous small satellite bus platforms earlier in February, with a grant of ₹5 Cr each.

In March 2025, IN-SPACe selected SIDBI Venture Capital as the fund manager for the government’s ₹1,000 Cr venture capital fund aimed at supporting homegrown spacetech startups. The fund, first announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2024 and approved by the Union Cabinet in October 2024, is intended to boost private investment in India’s space sector.

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