Skyroot Aerospace does a SpaceX, offers Elon Musk-style Esops to its founders
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Skyroot Aerospace Pvt. Ltd.
is offering its founders stock options on the lines of SpaceX's “moonshot” executive pay package to founder Elon Musk, provided they scale India's most well-funded spacetech startup to certain lofty goals.The founder-only employee stock option plan will give Pawan Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka up to a 4% equity stake, provided their company generates revenue by launching a satellite and raises $100 million at a valuation of more than $1 billion by December 2028. The Hyderabad-based startup will issue these shares to CEO Chandana and COO Daka in three tranches.
Chandana stands to get twice as many shares as Daka.The first two tranches are contingent on the startup successfully placing a satellite in orbit, followed by a second rocket carrying an at least 200 kg payload, according to an executive privy to the development. The final tranche is linked to raising $100 million at a $1 billion valuation.On 7 May, Skyroot Aerospace announced that it has raised $60 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion.
The round was co-led by early Google investor Ram Shriram's venture capital firm, Sherpalo Ventures, and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC.Privately held Skyroot, which counts steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal as an investor, first launched its suborbital rocket, Vikram-S, in November 2022. However, its plan to put a satellite into orbit has been delayed, with an initial launch planned first for 2024 and subsequently, by March this year.Chandana told Mint last week that its Vikram-1 orbital launch is expected in the “coming weeks”.
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