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How To Start A Startup | Pawan Kumar Chandana | Skyroot Aerospace — Transcript

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0:02Uh Mr. Pawan is interacting with a few
0:04startups at IIMA Ventures
0:06and it was supposed to end, but they
0:10have maybe in a
0:12good long conversation.
0:14But before that, I would just like you
0:16all I would like to welcome all of you
0:18to this event. So, if you know or not,
0:21uh I am representing Entre VCs, the
0:23entrepreneurship club here and in
0:25collaboration with IIMA Ventures,
0:27we have presented you this H series
0:31This is our one of the flagship series
0:33wherein we have previously hosted Kunal
0:36Shah,
0:37Ritesh Agarwal, many other VCs as well.
0:39We have a YouTube channel for this,
0:41around 130k subscribers.
0:44You can check it out.
0:46Last week we hosted
0:48Kitty Agarwal, that is founding partner
0:51of Info Edge Ventures as well as we had
0:54Mr. Vishal Mehta, who is the CEO founder
0:56and CEO of Avenues AI, the parent
0:58company of payment gateway CC Avenue.
1:02So, today we have Mr. Pawan. So, by a
1:05show of hand, can you just let me know
1:07how many of you know Skyroot Aerospace
1:10and what they have done recently?
1:11Just by show of hands.
1:15Okay. So, maybe we have maybe 80% of
1:18you. Uh I think we need to improve our
1:20marketing as per se. The message is not
1:23very clear to everyone. So, let me just
1:25brief you about it. Very recently, you
1:28may have heard the news about an Indian
1:30private company putting a satellite in
1:32space, Vikram 1. So, it is Skyroot
1:34Aerospace. They have they have raised
1:37around 50 or 60 million dollars at 1.1
1:40billion valuation a few months back, but
1:43after this successful launch, now they
1:45have just doubled their valuation at 2
1:46billion dollars and raising a new round
1:48as well.
1:50Of course, I'll not go too much into
1:52detail. We would have Mr. Pawan speak
1:54for the journey himself.
1:57But these are the type of sessions that
1:58we keep doing.
1:59If you want to be connected with us, you
2:02can write an email. You can connect with
2:03me, any of the team members, or also I
2:06am I am ventures if you want.
2:10Uh any any thoughts from anyone? Uh we
2:12would just like to keep it a bit
2:14interactive till we start the session.
2:16Anything?
2:19So how many of you are not from I am A
2:22have come from other institutes or other
2:25companies?
2:30Yeah, nice to have you here. Hope we'll
2:32have we'll host you more in the future
2:34as well.
2:38So just to brief, this will be more like
2:40a fireside chat rather than a one-way
2:42delivery. We would we have uh
2:45one student from our batch, PGP 2.
2:48Uh
2:49surprisingly, he's also an IIT KGP
2:51alumni and has worked at ISRO. So maybe
2:54something cooking there. So we have one
2:56of my batchmates who will be present in
2:58the fireside chat. And also we have
3:00someone from I am A ventures to moderate
3:02it.
3:03So we'll try to keep it interactive.
3:05We'll have maybe 30 minutes or so in the
3:08fireside chat, and then it will be open
3:11to questions for all.
3:13We have it being recorded. It will be
3:15put up on the YouTube channel after we
3:17get the approval of the speaker and some
3:19editing. And you can send it to your
3:21batch uh so to your friends, colleagues,
3:24and even uh other students. Uh we'll
3:27give that link to everyone via mail.
3:29So yeah, that's a bit of intro.
3:32Anything anyone would like to ask or add
3:35before we begin?
4:09>> Yeah, sorry so I had to divert all of
4:11your attention for me to download that
4:12file and upload it. We'll be playing
4:15that file that it contains the journey
4:17of Skyroot in very short. It was
4:19requested by uh Mr. Pawan himself.
4:22And once he arrives, we'll look into it.
4:30Yeah, so so as I have all of yours
4:33attention, I would just like to uh
4:35market one more thing. So, we as the
4:37club would be opening our
4:39uh on-tree fair, which is for startups
4:42to connect with found with students
4:44here, the IIM-A PGP students and other
4:47cohorts as well, PGPX and other cohorts.
4:51What it offers is uh generally the
4:53placement process feels long for
4:54startups.
4:56So, you could offer projects,
4:58internships, or any other form of
4:59engagement to our students here. Uh if
5:02you are a startup, it could be in any
5:04domain, maybe product, maybe strategy,
5:05maybe finance. Uh we have kind of
5:08diverse profiles available. You could
5:11offer it via us. We'll be opening that
5:13soon and sending out emails to everyone.
5:15So, if you are a startup or you know
5:17someone who would like to uh engage one
5:20of the students for any kind of project,
5:22so please feel free to
5:24connect with us.
5:52>> So, good evening everyone. I'm really
5:54sorry for the slight delay which we had.
5:56Uh
5:57So, I'll just, you know, quickly
5:58introduce our speaker for the day.
6:01Uh while you all might know
6:04Pawan
6:05Uh
6:06Pawan
6:07happens to be
6:09uh the
6:11one of the most consequential
6:13or
6:14uh
6:15person in the defining journey of space
6:17tech uh in India.
6:20Uh Pawan has humble beginnings. He was
6:22born and brought up in Visakhapatnam.
6:26Even born in the small town of uh
6:27Machilipatnam.
6:29Uh
6:30So, went ahead and, you know, worked
6:33uh before even uh getting into ISRO. So,
6:35he pursued his mechanical engineering at
6:38IIT Kharagpur.
6:40After which, rather than taking a
6:41conventional uh you know career path he
6:45went ahead and worked at ISRO.
6:47Uh while during his journey at ISRO, the
6:506 years he spent there
6:52uh he met his co-founder as well
6:54Mr. Bharat.
6:56Uh
6:57And after spending 6 years at ISRO, he
6:59took a pivotal step of starting India's
7:02first
7:04uh space tech firm
7:05in a private space.
7:08So, the journey of Skyroot started in
7:092018.
7:11Uh
7:12And every year after that marked a major
7:15milestone in the Indian private space
7:18tech uh
7:19journey.
7:212020 was the year when uh
7:24Skyroot conducted a test of uh
7:26India's first private rocket uh engine
7:29static test.
7:312022 was a pivotal year when uh Skyroot
7:34launched Vikram-S
7:37which was the first
7:39uh rocket launched in the private space
7:41in India.
7:43Then history has it, 2026 marked the
7:46year when uh Skyroot became the India's
7:48first
7:50unicorn space tech startup.
7:52And uh just last month on 18th July,
7:56Skyroot launched Vikram 1,
7:58uh which was the first uh private space
8:00uh
8:01orbital launch in India,
8:04taking India uh making India as the
8:06third country to have a private rocket
8:09launch after US and China.
8:12So, without
8:17I was going to ask you, you know, have a
8:19round big round of applause to welcome
8:21uh Pawan, but I think that is done. So,
8:23we'll take seat here and we'll start
8:25with the Q&A.
8:33>> Hello, everybody.
8:37So, good good like you're banging the
8:39this looks like Parliament to me.
8:41So,
8:42>> [laughter]
8:44>> really good great energy.
8:46>> Uh thanks, Akash. That was quite an
8:48intro, and I also welcome Pawan. So,
8:50I'll start with my first question. So,
8:52you were a scientist at ISRO, the only
8:54organization in the entire country that
8:56was building rockets at that time. So,
8:59what was the moment at which you decided
9:01to leave ISRO and start building your
9:03own?
9:04>> Yeah, I mean
9:06Uh so, I so, one fine In fact, like from
9:08childhood, you know, I wanted to uh
9:11you know, build a company because I
9:12looked at entrepreneurs and really got
9:15uh
9:16you know, inspired by them because I saw
9:17entrepreneurs creating a lot of impact,
9:20you know, they're creating a lot of uh
9:22infrastructure, they're creating a lot
9:23of wealth for others, they're creating
9:25uh you know,
9:26overall uh you know, per unit per capita
9:29impact is very high. Uh so, I was really
9:32inspired by them, and also their
9:33independence they have, and you know,
9:35the
9:36uh it felt very attractive to me, but I
9:38I have no clue how to start a company. I
9:40think it's very apt to, you know, the
9:41topic today, how to start a startup. So,
9:44I have I have no clue how to start a
9:45startup, but I wanted to do a startup.
9:47And that is there all the end of the
9:49mind. And then I joined IIT Kharagpur.
9:50And IIT Kharagpur,
9:52I remember like, you know, I was
9:54sleeping in my
9:56dorm room. And then somebody like, you
9:58know, started banging the door. And when
10:00I opened the door, it's like there are
10:01some seniors like, you know, coming and
10:03then they say, you know, where are they
10:05say we are from E-Cell, entrepreneurs
10:08cell. You know, so every IIT has an
10:09entrepreneurs cell. And then they start
10:11asking questions like, you know, do you
10:13know why Gillette has put five
10:16factories in five different regions and
10:17all that. I I don't care like, you know.
10:19So, it's like and I was thinking like,
10:20why why are you disturbing me in my
10:22sleep? You know, that I was like that at
10:24that time. But but that really sparked
10:26a, you know, that vibe in the institute
10:29to start companies.
10:30You know, whether it is E-Cell or like
10:32the entrepreneurs cells and like lot of
10:33people wanting to start companies. How
10:35many of you want to start your company
10:37or your own company?
10:40Good, almost 50% of it. So, so it's like
10:42that there's a vibe in the whole
10:45institute. And wherever I see like
10:46people wanting to start companies, I
10:47want to start this company. This is my
10:49idea. This is this thing. Then I
10:50realized that actually you can start a
10:52company. I mean like, it's really
10:53possible to start a company. And at that
10:55time in 2007, I joined IIT Kharagpur. At
10:57that time there was the Myntras and the
10:59Flipkarts were all rising. Right? And
11:01they're all built by IITians. So, I
11:02thought like it's possible. I mean like,
11:03even if you don't have a background
11:05where you don't have a lot of capital of
11:06your own to invest in, still with an
11:08idea you can actually build a great
11:09company. So, that reinforced that. And I
11:12got really excited with that.
11:14And then
11:16and then like, you know, I wanted to
11:17start a company straight out of college,
11:19by the way. You know, I was I was
11:20contemplating that I will not even sit
11:22for placements. I'll start a company.
11:24But I thought everywhere everything I
11:26had no idea. I didn't even also didn't
11:28have that guts that time to start a
11:30company. But I just thought
11:32and but my passion was core engineering
11:34which is also like it came through IIT
11:36where like really hardcore engineering.
11:38I love hardcore engineering. And and
11:41then when I saw the placement ISRO was
11:44coming to the placements without
11:46thinking
11:47it's a literally government job and
11:48you're from IIT KGP. I think who chooses
11:50a government job? Right? So even though
11:52it's like very prestigious like ISRO is
11:54very prestigious. But we are all like
11:56you know counted by what is the CTC or
11:58the package which we get which is not
12:00very high for a government job. But I
12:01didn't even think think it for a second.
12:03I
12:04because I wanted to do hardcore
12:06engineering and and then ISRO was a
12:08place where you know you can get really
12:10cutting edge work. Then it has a great
12:12brand and like you know at that time
12:14everybody was excited. All the
12:15scientific community is really excited
12:16with
12:18ISRO and it came to campus I think first
12:19or the second time. So I clinched the
12:21opportunity. I you know applied for it.
12:24Like I sat for the interview. You know
12:26luckily got
12:27selected with a little tough fight. All
12:29the toppers were the toppers. So
12:31everybody else was topper and none of I
12:33think none of them joined only I joined.
12:35They all probably went abroad for PhDs
12:38and I ended up joining
12:40you know ISRO as a scientist. And then
12:42like after spending six years I was part
12:44of the
12:46you know India's largest rocket program.
12:47The same rocket which has put the
12:50spacecraft landed on the South Pole of
12:52the moon first time in the world. So I
12:53was part of the that rocket development.
12:56I was part of the first two missions. I
12:57was so excited. Right? I used to work on
12:59the launch pads, massive launch pads,
13:01and the massive rockets, huge factories.
13:04You know this is like a dream for me.
13:05Like you know it's like gave me
13:06goosebumps multiple times. It's like a
13:08dream come true. I was working I decided
13:11to retire in ISRO because it's so good.
13:13Right? And and also like ISRO is also in
13:15a very beautiful place in
13:17a place in Kerala. You know it's called
13:19Trivandrum capital of Kerala. That's
13:21where like on the shores is where all
13:23the rocket program started. So I was
13:25like working there. Very beautiful
13:26place. Wonderful work. Wanted to retire
13:28there. But then this entrepreneurial
13:31ambition already bit me like in some
13:33childhood and got reinforced in college.
13:35Right? And so one fine day I got a
13:37thought like why can't we build a rocket
13:39company? You know, it's like marriage of
13:40two passions. Rockets and like
13:43entrepreneurship. And then like I
13:44couldn't sleep for a few days. I was so
13:46excited with that idea.
13:48You know, I I felt it's like a calling.
13:50You know, finally my calling has come.
13:51Right? So literally what I couldn't do
13:54outside of college finally now it became
13:56a calling. And uh
13:58that's it. I
13:59decided to learn how to build a startup,
14:02you know, figure things out. I had no
14:03clue what is I didn't even know what is
14:05equity. I thought people loan companies
14:07and you have to return the loan. Right?
14:08I didn't even know what is equity. I
14:09didn't know what is a term sheet.
14:11Nothing. Literally. So I learned
14:12everything on internet, Googled. And and
14:15then like you know, learned just met few
14:17entrepreneurs who have built some
14:19companies and then learned their
14:20journey. Very quickly, you know, I
14:22learned how to do it. Build my
14:24conviction then quit my job along with
14:26my co-founder Bharat and then started
14:27because that is an ambition. It's
14:28literally I think I would say like dots
14:30connecting of a lifetime. And then
14:32that's the reason made to made me take
14:35that leap. I found it a phenomenal
14:37opportunity.
14:38But at that time there was no policy,
14:40there was no funding environment, there
14:41was no talent in the private sector.
14:43Literally if you if you looked at the
14:45probability if you ask if you ask
14:46somebody to do research on the
14:47probability of success of the startup,
14:49probably it would be negative. You know,
14:51so it's it's it's that that was the
14:52situation. But I felt like calling. I
14:55thought like we could, you know,
14:56influence policy. We could build the
14:58talent, you know, we could raise
15:00capital. I was ready to go all in like
15:02you know, for example, I was ready to
15:04wait for 10 years. I thought it'll take
15:0510 years for the policy to come. You
15:07know, it's typically in India, you know,
15:08we generally believe that policies, you
15:11know, it's not beyond our hands. It's
15:12it's like you know, whatever we push it
15:13may not come. Right? So so I thought
15:15it'll I'll ready for giving 10 years of
15:17my life even without make some progress.
15:19You know, it may not be very fast. You
15:21know, we push the policy, maybe it takes
15:2310 years. Maybe I'll not raise capital,
15:25you know, maybe like, you know, I'll
15:26have to use my savings and use use take
15:29help from my parents to, you know, to
15:30stay with them, you know, and like, you
15:32know, have some expenses done. Right?
15:34So, that I was ready for prepared for
15:35the worst of the worst, went all in. I
15:37was at 27 at that time.
15:40Took the boldest, biggest risk of my
15:42life.
15:43With with full excitement, I started
15:46Skyroot.
15:48>> So, Pawan, interesting that you brought
15:49up that, you know,
15:50uh reading term sheets, learning about
15:52term sheets, right? Uh even before that
15:54it comes that, you know,
15:56raising funds, convincing investors to
15:58put in money into your
16:00venture.
16:02Off late, we have seen deep tech and
16:03space tech is seeing a lot of funding uh
16:06around these years.
16:07But, how were you able to convince uh
16:09Mr. Mukesh Bansal initially to, you
16:12know, pull in capital at the seed stage
16:14at an early stage in a space tech
16:16startup?
16:17>> Yeah, good question. So, how many of you
16:18are engineers? Who here studied
16:19engineering?
16:25Wow.
16:27Good. So, so, so I was also an engineer
16:30like you, okay? And uh and
16:34uh you know, thought myself as a
16:35technocrat, pure technocrat, like, you
16:38know, I had no clue how to raise
16:40capital, believe me. I wanted to build a
16:41company, but zero clue how to raise
16:43capital and zero connections, zero
16:46connections. I was an ISRO scientist, I
16:47had zero connections with the investing
16:49world. So, what I did, I created a
16:51LinkedIn account, you know, and then we
16:53whoever says angel investor,
16:55I just pinged them,
16:57you know? And then not only me, my
16:59friend two two three friends, we just
17:01spammed everybody, right? And uh for
17:04like, you know, several days,
17:06hundreds of investors, everybody
17:08rejected, you know, so nobody thought
17:09like this what is this this probably
17:11might be some spam, you know?
17:12What is a rocket company? What are these
17:14guys? Probably these guys might be, you
17:16know, smoking something or something of
17:17that sort. So
17:18>> [laughter]
17:19>> So that's That's how people people
17:21thought and many people did not take it
17:23seriously. Many people, you know,
17:25rejected. Many people thought he's like,
17:26you know, crazy, right? And then like
17:29Mukesh Bansal, like, you know,
17:31one of my friends, you know, who's also
17:33like spamming the inbox, you know, where
17:36he's helping raise capital. So he saw
17:39some news that, you know, Myntra is
17:40getting acquired or something of that
17:41sort. And he thought like got an idea,
17:43maybe like, you know, Mukesh will invest
17:45there. Then he He messaged him and and
17:47Mukesh immediately responded. He
17:49probably he
17:50says that he
17:51generally doesn't look at LinkedIn much,
17:53but probably that time he looked. And it
17:55probably said serendipity that he has
17:57looked at that message. He responded
17:59immediately. That same weekend we met.
18:02And and then like, you know, that is a
18:04perfect frequency match, right? It's
18:06like
18:07and he he's also from He's an IIT
18:09background, you know, he's
18:11you know, he wanted to be an aerospace
18:13engineer, but, you know, people said
18:14that you'll not get job in aerospace. So
18:17he took computer science because, you
18:18know, he had a great rank in JEE.
18:20>> [laughter]
18:20>> And and then like, you know, and then
18:22after that uh
18:24uh
18:25and he wanted to do something in deep
18:27tech. He likes passion He's passionate
18:28about space, etc. And then we met him
18:31and really liked how we are doing, like,
18:32you know, quitting our jobs in very
18:34comfortable job, you know, and coming
18:36and starting the company very young and
18:38with a lot of ambition and like, you
18:39know, real,
18:41uh you know, wanting to you know, build
18:42something. And and then like, you know,
18:44how we convinced him is like, you know,
18:46just being very transparent saying that
18:47this is a vision, this is what we want
18:48to do. And typically entrepreneurs
18:50understand, you know, because they have
18:51been through that journey
18:53all along. So it's different from like
18:54pitching to investor, like pitching to
18:57Typically the risk appetite for
18:59individual investors is very high. And
19:02and that's where like, you know, it's it
19:03just aligned with his thought process.
19:06And and he asked certain question, like,
19:08you know, how much If let's say you
19:10don't raise capital or like, you know,
19:11if the company is like, you know, not we
19:13are unable to raise capital in the
19:14future,
19:15what is the what is the salary which you
19:17would like to work with?
19:19I told like you know,
19:20well, if you know, maybe like some
19:2130,000, 50,000 rupees. I don't care, you
19:24know. And then that hooked him. He said
19:26that, "Okay, these are really serious
19:28people
19:29who is willing to build for the long
19:31term, doesn't care,
19:32you know, about this thing." And then he
19:35thought because he could fund for a
19:36longer time, you know, that will give
19:37the longevity to the company. So, that
19:38also gave him a lot of comfort. And then
19:40he invested. And just like a perfect
19:43frequency match, like entrepreneur to
19:44entrepreneur, I would say. Yeah.
19:48>> So, Pawan, the next question. So, you
19:49started with a small founding team of
19:51former ISRO and defense scientists.
19:55So, the question is, how did you
19:56convince them to leave their stable,
19:59prestigious government science career
20:01and pursue a early-stage startup?
20:04>> Yeah. So, and see, at that time we
20:06didn't have much money also. So, we
20:07couldn't like we didn't actually pursue
20:09any people who are already working in
20:11ISRO. So, there are set of retired
20:13scientists who are like who had done
20:15tremendous amount of work, right? And
20:17then and some of them I know from ISRO
20:20time. So, I met them, told them this is
20:22the vision, this is the you know, this
20:24is what we are planning to do. And so,
20:27recruited like you know,
20:29some of the really good cutting-edge
20:30people,
20:31a very few at to start with. And they
20:33all have been like really, really
20:35influential in building Skyroot. Uh you
20:37know, maybe like you know, around three,
20:38four, you know, veteran scientists who
20:41have like built the space program,
20:43right? And then the Padma Shrees and all
20:46those, you know, all the
20:47big people who have built the program.
20:50And then after that, we also recruited
20:52like around 10, 15 youngsters, right?
20:54Who had nothing to do with space. Never
20:56done any anything space rockets. And
20:59completely from scratch. And and they
21:02also like LinkedIn recruitment, just
21:03messaged them, like how to message like
21:05you know, the I recruited them and in
21:07fact gave them offers even before
21:09getting the money. All right, so just
21:11just gave them offers
21:13and they're like, you know, many people
21:14thought like, you know, what is this
21:15like, you know, there's no website,
21:16nothing. Like they thought like what is
21:18something wrong.
21:19And they they they also had to doubt. So
21:21we had to meet them and tell them this
21:23is real. Okay, and then and then like I
21:26pitched to them like how we pitched to
21:27investors, we pitched to everybody. It's
21:29like literally pitching pitching
21:31pitching to everybody sharing the dream.
21:33Like, you know, pitching is more like,
21:35you know, sharing that dream of what it
21:36is and making them come on board and
21:39give them the comfort and then like they
21:41they also hopped in. And they've been
21:43like very very like, you know, they
21:45literally built Skyroot over years. You
21:47know, they're significant people
21:48building them. That's how the initial
21:49team was built.
21:52>> I mean very rightly said. [music] So uh
21:54I mean even before being a founder, one
21:57person has to be a sales person as well.
21:59You have to sell the vision to the team.
22:01You have to
22:02sell the idea to investors and while,
22:05you know, selling the product to the
22:06market as well.
22:07Uh Pawan, we'd like to know the early
22:09journey, right? Uh while the private
22:12space, uh you know, opened up more so
22:15around 2020.
22:17How was your early journey? What were
22:18the some of the challenges or maybe the
22:20ecosystem support which was, you know,
22:21provided by
22:23different players, be it ISRO or
22:25government of India. So how was that
22:27early journey of, you know, Skyroot?
22:29>> So I mean the policy there was no policy
22:33when we started, okay. So there was zero
22:35support from the government because
22:36there's no policy backing it. And uh and
22:39typically government is run by rules,
22:41you know, so so that way I think we had
22:43zero support from anything. We had to
22:45build everything from scratch. And uh
22:48and like, you know, but then the policy
22:50was announced during COVID around 2020
22:53and then it was formalized in 2022-2023.
22:56And uh and that time we got support and
22:58then like, you know, we became the first
22:59company which has signed MoU with ISRO
23:02uh where we got access to, you know,
23:04billion-dollar facilities, you know,
23:06just instantly. And we have we are like
23:08probably even the largest,
23:10you know, users of ISRO facilities
23:12outside of ISRO. We are now outside of
23:14ISRO. And like for example, recent
23:16launch was done from ISRO launch pad.
23:17It's a very legacy, you know, one of the
23:19cutting-edge launch pads. So, that's how
23:21like, you know, we got access to
23:22something which that that's I think one
23:23of the biggest benefits the government
23:24has offered.
23:26And then like, you know, and then we we
23:27utilize the best of the best
23:29infrastructure to make Accelerate our
23:31journey fast.
23:33>> So, in 2018, a private company building
23:36a rocket was not just like difficult, it
23:39was like borderline impossible to think
23:41about. So,
23:43and this sector was mostly done like
23:45completely run by government.
23:47So, what were your initial challenges in
23:50terms of say engineering, regulations,
23:52and convincing people?
23:54>> Everything is a challenge, you know, so
23:56it was like everything you see for
23:57example, if you give a case study to you
23:59guys at that time, these are the
24:00situations, can you build a startup? You
24:02all will say like it's impossible, it
24:04will not succeed. Don't start,
24:06>> [laughter]
24:06>> so that's the situation, you know,
24:08because we took a leap of faith. That's
24:09why it's called a leap of faith, you
24:10know, even though you know that the odds
24:12of success is low, you know, took took a
24:14leap of faith to start the company in
24:16that time because believe that we can
24:18think figure it out and like left it to
24:20the long term, you know, whatever it is,
24:21we will figure things out. That's with
24:23that attitude we, you know, started the
24:25company. And initial challenges are like
24:28recruiting people because we had no
24:30money, like how to pay like, you know,
24:31good people is a big challenge. So, you
24:34have to share the vision and people who
24:35have like similar frequency only will
24:37come. Then raising capital, you know,
24:39first seed round also saw hundreds of
24:41rejections. Finally, we did a seed round
24:42and a rocket company 10 crores is what I
24:45mean like, you know, so it's like it's
24:46not just like survival money for some
24:48time. So, it got gave us 3 years. And
24:51then and then that COVID hit. As a
24:54private company, we couldn't do anything
24:55like just think about a private rocket
24:56company. What can you do like in COVID
24:59like nothing can move right? You can't
25:00literally progress stalled completely
25:03and no investor was investing at that
25:04time. You know, it was like whole
25:06priorities change COVID right? Literally
25:08already it's a risky environment
25:09outside. So the risk appetite of
25:11everybody goes down and and you know to
25:13invest in rocket company that time even
25:14policy was not there. It's like the risk
25:16appetite required is so high. So it's
25:18like you know the chances of raising
25:19investment also was low. So raising
25:21investment was so so challenging. I mean
25:23literally uh you know I don't know like
25:25which company as we had we had to raise
25:27maybe 1,300 1,400 crores on an idea.
25:31You know, it's like probably nobody has
25:32done it in in the startup space. So I've
25:34seen I've seen the brunt of raising
25:36capital uh you know when when you have
25:39long-term patient thing when your
25:40revenues are far away. How to raise
25:42capital? You have to figure it out. And
25:44then like raising capital was extremely
25:46tough. People and tech was so difficult.
25:49I mean like you know in fact we started
25:51the company thinking that we can build
25:52build the rockets but then realized now
25:54why it's called rocket science. You
25:56know, it's like so so challenging. I
25:58mean literally I can't even say uh you
26:00know it has so many systems. Everything
26:03complex. Everything has to come
26:04together, right? I mean I can't even
26:07describe in words how difficult it is. I
26:09mean it looks so beautiful in a launch
26:11but there was so much so much uh going
26:13behind and like extremely extremely
26:15complex and I literally I can feel why
26:17is it called rocket science and why
26:19there's only few companies who are doing
26:20it. And uh so everything was challenging
26:22and we had to like make our own path.
26:24Create our own ways of doing things.
26:26Create our own ways of solving problems.
26:30>> So I mean uh since now it's been almost
26:32a month uh since you know we saw launch
26:34of Vikram 1
26:36for public uh
26:38still it's in the news, right? Uh but
26:40for a startup founder
26:42it's always about you know what's next.
26:44Would love to know more about that, you
26:45know, what's next in the book for
26:47Skyroot.
26:48>> So so next is um
26:50you know like getting the team grounded
26:53because everybody is in the air now, you
26:55know, so it's like
26:56so it's like it's like a fantastic
26:58thing. Everybody is getting celebrated.
27:00All the Skyroot team is getting
27:01celebrated across. And uh and then I'm
27:04sure even they're getting all the
27:06you know, newspapers are covering them,
27:08you know, podcasts, you know, and then
27:10like, you know, and the whole, you know,
27:12their apartment communities are like,
27:14you know, felicitating them. This is
27:16what is happening with our team. So
27:17everybody's in the air. You know, so for
27:19first most important thing is bringing
27:20back to the ground, you know, so it's
27:21like Skyroot, we aim for the skies but
27:23always rooted, right? So that's the name
27:25from So we are just getting them rooted,
27:27getting back to work is is is one thing.
27:30And uh good that our team is like, you
27:32know, getting back into you know, shape,
27:34running running with next hardware.
27:36We've done good progress on the next
27:37launch. So next launch is coming up and
27:39like the moment you're in the air,
27:40rockets don't fly. You have to be always
27:42rooted, you know, that's a Rockets teach
27:44humility, you know, because it's
27:45extremely complex, you know, just leave
27:47some room for relaxation, it's gone.
27:49Right? So it just has to be like really
27:51really, you know, that that focus needs
27:53to be super sharp, laser sharp, and
27:55continuous. So that's how it is. So
27:57bringing the team the spirit, you know,
27:59back to the roots, back to the ground,
28:00and then uh keep things going seriously
28:02for the next launch. And next launch we
28:05target to do the end of the year.
28:06Probably that's the quickest any any
28:08private com- company has come to the
28:10second launch. And uh and then like next
28:13year we'll do multiple launches. And you
28:15know, we want to see like uh towards the
28:17end of the next year we want to see a
28:18cadence of one launch every month.
28:20Right? So so that that's where we are
28:22getting to. I mean, just uh I mean, for
28:24example, in India like the maximum we've
28:26done I think is like six per year. And
28:28on average we do three to four, right?
28:30So and like, you know, we want to we
28:32want to like just uh we want to get to
28:33one launch a month cadence and then
28:35eventually even more, eventually even
28:36more, eventually even more. And create a
28:38future where like we do like probably,
28:41you know, several launches a day, you
28:42know, and uh that would require like
28:44large reusable rockets, like working
28:47like daily uh you know cadence of
28:50launches etc. So we are all working
28:52towards that path.
28:53>> So you have spoken about building
28:55independent launch pads.
28:57Uh to reduce your reliance on ISRO's
29:00shared infrastructure from Sriharikota.
29:02So I would like to know what is in the
29:04plan and how this will like what it will
29:07unlock for Skyroot in as a whole.
29:10>> No, I think we will be
29:13as independent as possible with time.
29:15But you know, right now like
29:16infrastructure is available you know and
29:18at one point of time as a cadence
29:20improves,
29:21the infrastructure availability will
29:22become you know difficult because like
29:24you know it will get a little bit
29:26overlapped with ISRO's plans etc. So
29:29always good to be independent. So we
29:31will keep on building infrastructure. So
29:32initial thing is to get the rocket
29:33right. Now we will also build the
29:36infrastructure required to increase the
29:37cadence to as high as possible without
29:39dependence. And and then like you know
29:41the plans which we are having you know
29:42we need to build like lot of interesting
29:44infrastructure like one of the world's
29:46best infrastructure what we are planning
29:49to build.
29:50>> Uh one more technical question.
29:52So Skyroot has gone with cryogenic
29:54engine, right?
29:56But
29:57others like Agnikul or ISRO for that
29:59matter are right now working on
30:00semi-cryo engines.
30:02Though ISRO does have two cryogenic
30:04engines as well.
30:06So what made you go for a more harder,
30:09more complex engine
30:11where everyone in this ecosystem is
30:13betting on semi-cryo right now?
30:15>> Uh
30:16in fact like you know the future is
30:17moving towards all cryo, right? If you
30:19see if you see like SpaceX
30:21Starship is all all cryo and you know I
30:24think that's where we are moving ahead.
30:26In fact we started the cryogenic program
30:27several years ago. We have done multiple
30:29engine firings and then it's going to
30:31like you know fly on our Vikram 2
30:33vehicle next year like you know multiple
30:34times and our reusable vehicle also will
30:36have the similar propulsion. So that way
30:38I think
30:39you know this is the right direction to
30:41go
30:42And
30:43that's what you know we we believe and
30:45then it's complex but that that's where
30:47it is. That's the future. That's where
30:48the future lies.
30:50>> Awesome.
30:51So before you know closing our questions
30:53and opening up the room for Q&A, one
30:55last question from my end since you know
30:57we have a lot of students in the room
30:58who might you know go ahead and start
31:00their own entrepreneurial journey
31:02sometime soon.
31:03One thing which you know really keeps
31:06students away from pursuing something in
31:07deep tech especially space tech
31:10is that you know finding those white
31:12areas or that gap in the market. Since
31:14now today we have 330 plus
31:17space tech startups in India.
31:19What are those key few areas that you
31:21know you feel
31:22there is still room for somebody to
31:23build
31:25in the space tech space in India?
31:26>> See I mean
31:27space is a blue ocean. You know you can
31:29build whatever you want. In fact if you
31:30see SpaceX journey they have built
31:32markets which were not there literally
31:34there like you know. So you can build
31:36markets you know
31:38in various areas but like some of the
31:39points which come is like one is like in
31:42space services. That means like you know
31:44today
31:45the satellites go and then you know they
31:48they go they function and then they die
31:50down. They are not serviced. You know
31:51but if you see our
31:53cars or you know our you know all
31:55everything our equipment on the ground
31:56they are serviced and they have a very
31:58long life. But in space they only live
32:00for few years because they are not
32:01serviced. So you can refuel them you can
32:03replace you know parts which are not
32:04working. So in space servicing is is
32:07something you know not easy it's very
32:09complex but I think that's a problem to
32:10solve you know and that also includes
32:12debris removal you know there's a lot of
32:13debris which is gets generated while you
32:16know while we put a lot of things in
32:17space and that affects the
32:19sustainability of the entire space
32:20ecosystem. You know removing debris is
32:22also part of in space services. So in
32:24space services is one. And second is you
32:26know communication you know in for
32:28example we need more and more like high
32:30speed internet for every nook and corner
32:32of the country like you know. And
32:34including you know flights wherever I
32:35mean like connectivity should be
32:37everywhere, whether wherever you are.
32:39So, I think high-speed connectivity to
32:41everyone in the globe, you know,
32:44requires satellites are the only way to
32:46do it. And you know, an Indian company
32:48getting into that is like a something,
32:50you know, gap to be solved. And and then
32:52India needs more and more earth
32:54observation satellites.
32:55And even the world needs more and more
32:57earth observation satellites. So, we are
32:58like, you know, we have cameras in the
32:59satellites and that data will be used to
33:01do like, you know, multiple businesses.
33:04And there's there's another thing. And
33:06then you have also like if you go
33:08beyond, you know, it's like even in
33:10future will be like a lot about
33:11exploration of other other planets, you
33:14know, building the tech stack for it,
33:15whether it is like the rovers, whether
33:17it is like habitats. You know, there's a
33:19lot of things. There's like a little bit
33:20far off, but but still those are also
33:21something, you know, very exciting. And
33:23there are like also things like, you
33:24know, solar power from space,
33:26you know, and like space stations. You
33:29know, you want to go on a holiday, you
33:30want to create a holiday trip for your
33:32friends, you know, you create a space
33:33station. And then like, you know, you
33:34can
33:36you know, you can make them experience
33:37space for a few days and come back. So,
33:40space tourism is is is one more
33:42interesting thing. Yeah, so these are
33:45some of the things which come to my
33:46mind, yeah.
33:47>> Really, really awesome. I mean,
33:49since you talked about space tourism,
33:50hopefully in a couple of years we'll
33:52have our grad tips
33:54in space itself.
33:56But so, while we had a lot of questions
33:58with us, but we'll open the room
34:01for questions from the audience itself
34:02since we are short on time. So,
34:05Please go ahead.
34:06>> Yeah.
34:11Also, these names are not real names, is
34:12it? Okay. Okay.
34:14>> [laughter]
34:16>> Okay.
34:18Okay.
34:53>> Actually you you need not have any
34:55alternate resources, you know, revenue
34:57streams, you know, so in fact
34:59until we days like almost a capital and
35:01revenue streams are not like yet
35:02established. So now we're getting
35:04pre-orders, pre-bookings and you know,
35:06so that's where like you know, the
35:07alternate revenues start and some other
35:09alternate revenues. But but then you
35:11actually don't need to depend on it. But
35:13if you have alternate revenues, that
35:15will comfort the investors because most
35:17investors think like space is like a
35:19moon shot, zero or one. Right? So so
35:21zero or one if there's something in
35:22between, there's a path of survivability
35:24for a long time so that you can achieve
35:26your one, you know, so so that you don't
35:28fall back to zero. That really
35:30definitely helps. You know, but we
35:32didn't actually concentrate on like
35:33creating
35:34you know, review because I'll tell you
35:35the reason also. The reason is that we
35:37thought like every year we thought
35:38launch can be next year, next year, next
35:40year. So so that came as
35:43made us like keep rooting for the goal,
35:45immediate goal, which we thought was
35:47very near but is actually quite far. We
35:49when you actually did the journey, we
35:50realized that how long it takes and you
35:52know, how complex it is.
35:54So I think not a bad idea like getting
35:56like you know, for you for example, you
35:57can you can look at like getting grants,
35:59you know, getting contracts, you know,
36:01getting partnerships with larger
36:03companies. You know, there are multiple
36:05ways. I think that gives
36:06confidence for investors always
36:08positive. I mean like there's nothing is
36:10not mandatory but like you know, it it
36:11gives like a good chances of raising
36:14more capital, chances of like proving
36:15your credibility, chances of validating
36:17a lot of technologies. There's nothing
36:19wrong. I mean if you should probably if
36:20there are opportunities, you have to go
36:21gun for them as well.
36:23Yeah.
36:26>> So let's go wing wise. So let's take one
36:28uh question from the left wing. Yeah,
36:29please go ahead.
36:41Yeah.
36:46Yeah.
36:49It's a very good question. In fact, I
36:50think the future of the company, one of
36:52the let's say three, four reasons is
36:54like how the big the technical
36:55architecture, right? I mean, that makes
36:57or breaks the companies. So, for us it's
36:59like simple, you know, I will not say
37:01simple, but like it's
37:02our our path would be like first
37:04principles thinking. You know, for
37:06example, Vikram series, the core
37:07objective is that how to get to launches
37:09fast. In fact, you will see like this
37:11today there's only two companies doing
37:12regular launches, you know, SpaceX and
37:14Rocket Lab. And like, you know, we
37:16started the company even after like
37:17Rocket Lab did their first launch, you
37:19know, so 2018. So, we cannot do the same
37:21thing. So, what we for us the problem
37:23statement is like how to get to orbital
37:25launches very quick. What is the
37:27smallest size of the rocket which is can
37:29go commercial because the bigger size of
37:31the rocket requires more investment, you
37:33know, it will require longer time of
37:34development, etc. Smallest rocket which
37:36is commercial is one one requirement,
37:39and then like, you know, how to get to
37:41orbital launches commercialization as
37:42quickly as possible, and how to build
37:44the lowest cost rocket in this segment
37:47by far than anybody else uh in the
37:50world, and how to build a very reliable
37:51system so that you don't rockets don't
37:53fail, and then, you know, you have you
37:54can go high cadence of building. So, so
37:56looking at this, we picked the tech
37:57stack, you know, so what is the first
37:58stage, what is the second stage, what
38:00should be the upper stage, what should
38:01be the structures, you know, and also
38:03and also like, you know, we want to
38:04build a tech stack which some of them
38:06can be used for like the next generation
38:07of vehicles which you're going to build
38:08later, right? So, all that. So, these
38:10are all the constraints in which, you
38:11know, first principle thinking. In fact,
38:13most of the very few people, you know,
38:16chose this architecture.
38:18And and like, in fact, we are fast
38:20because we chose this architecture. We
38:21are very relevant for our first launch
38:23success in the very first attempt, which
38:24is very very rare
38:26you know for any rocket company you
38:27know. So that's also because we chose
38:29the right architecture. So I think it's
38:30like makes or breaks and it's pure first
38:32principle thinking.
38:35>> Let's go to the question from this side.
38:57>> Yeah, no. So what we do is that we do a
38:58lot of ground testing you know. Every
38:59system we build we try to simulate on
39:01the ground right? And then like you know
39:03we trade and luckily you know like most
39:05of us not I would not say luckily in
39:07fact we wanted all the tests on the
39:09ground to succeed. Some of them of
39:11course did not succeed. We learned new
39:12things and made them success successful.
39:14So that is a test like you know. So some
39:16of them required multiple interaction
39:17iterations like some of them did not
39:19require many of them did not require
39:21because we build them well right? So and
39:22then like we go to launch and then
39:24launch also require iterations. For
39:25example SpaceX succeed in the fourth
39:27attempt at orbit right? So it multiple
39:29iterations multiple improvements right?
39:31Even our first launch even though it's
39:32successful you know we'll make we'll
39:33take we have all the data we'll
39:35understand where the weak parts and even
39:36make like one more iteration of which is
39:38much better. So iterations are
39:39continuous like even if you see SpaceX
39:42you know they have done like hundreds of
39:43launches but still they're like
39:44improving the rocket you know. Every
39:46improvement is an iteration. Yeah.
40:08No I think anybody who wants to access
40:10space it is communication satellite
40:12companies. It is like earth observation
40:14satellite companies. It could be even
40:16like you know student satellites. It
40:18could be anything. I mean, literally
40:19even there is no capacity to launch to
40:21space today, you know. SpaceX is booked,
40:24you know, there's all the launch
40:25available, most of them are booked. And
40:28and then like, you know, there's only
40:29few companies who are operating. So, the
40:31So, the world needs more access to space
40:33and there is less access to space. So,
40:34that's that's what we're solving for,
40:36like creating more access to space. And
40:37the beneficiaries are communication
40:39companies, communication satellite
40:40companies. And like, in fact, if you
40:42see, like if you take your mobile,
40:43right? On the only 10% of the Earth's
40:45surface you get terrestrial
40:47connectivity. 90% of the Earth's surface
40:49connected by
40:51connected by satellite and there's a lot
40:52of levels in a lot of regions, a lot of
40:55people directly connected by satellite.
40:57Right? So, so, this is connectivity is
40:59one, Earth observation is one, then like
41:01research, you know, and then like
41:02technology demonstrations, you know, a
41:04lot of things like where the space is
41:06required and these are all our
41:07beneficiaries for access to space. And
41:09they all all of them improve lives on
41:10right here on Earth.
41:23Yeah.
41:30Yeah. See, see, our focus of the problem
41:32statement is to just take people to
41:33space. And and then like the people
41:36solve several problems, you know, we are
41:38like an enabler to all of that, right?
41:40So, so, and in fact, an indirect enabler
41:43for even IoT, for example. There are
41:45people building IoT constellations.
41:47Where IoT constellation is like you get
41:48like Internet of Things in a global
41:50scale, you know, because the
41:51constellation rotates around the Earth
41:53like, you know, overall global
41:54connectivity. Right? So, we are only
41:56enablers to all of them by putting their
41:58payload to space. And then they do it,
42:00right? So, so, it's not our payload. So,
42:01it's like a customer payload. Like some
42:03of some of you probably, you know, will
42:05build companies, you'll build a payload
42:06or a satellite. We'll we'll be launching
42:08yours and we'll like creating access to
42:10space to you.
42:12>> So, we'll take up one last question Uh
42:15from that part of the room.
42:27>> Great question. So, so Vikram one is
42:29100% designed in India, 100%
42:32manufactured in India, and more than 90%
42:35sourced within India, you know, by
42:37value. So, in fact, more than 400
42:39suppliers contribute to to it. In fact,
42:42thanks to ISRO for building an ecosystem
42:43for 60 years, you know, and and in fact,
42:46like in fact, the rocket is named Vikram
42:48because of
42:50Yeah, so ISRO founded
42:53Ahmedabad as well. So, it's a great
42:54connection. So, so, that's where like,
42:57you know, it came from because he
42:58started space program in early 1960s
43:01when nobody thought like space in 1960s
43:03for India. Like, we got independence in
43:051947. Just imagine, that's not the top
43:07priority at all, which is what people
43:08think, but he said India should be
43:09second to none in advanced technologies,
43:11built the space sector 60 years, you
43:14know, from starting in a small church
43:15like transporting, you know, rockets on
43:17bicycles. Now, we went to the moon,
43:19Mars, right? And
43:21you know, many things first in the
43:22world. Mars orbit first first in first
43:24attempt, you know, first
43:26you know, country to land on the near
43:28the South Pole of the moon, right? So,
43:29so, all these achieved like, you know,
43:31from there from cycle rockets on cycles
43:33to like moon and Mars. And through this
43:36ecosystem, a lot of supply chain has
43:39been built. Like, you know, there's a
43:40lot of people who got trained to build
43:42high-quality space products. And then
43:45lot of them contributed to, you know,
43:46Vikram one mission. And that's the
43:48reason why we could like so have more
43:50than 90% sourced within India.
43:53Oh, yeah, it's 10% is like the raw
43:56carbon fiber, for example, right? So,
43:58so, that is one. And then like, you
43:59know, we have like the electro chips,
44:01you know, the computational chips, you
44:03know, which is used in the rocket.
44:05Uh and um, then yeah, these are the two
44:07main things which we imported and some
44:09sensors we imported. So, by value
44:11they're like single-digit percentage of
44:12the rocket.
44:14>> So, thanks a lot. We'll take more
44:16questions outside over refreshments.
44:18Meanwhile, would really like to thank
44:20you Pawan for taking out time and
44:29and walking us through your zero to one
44:31journey.
44:32Sure.
44:34And there is a lot to learn from, you
44:36know, the part of getting your first
44:37investors to product and then, you know,
44:39wishing you all the luck, all the very
44:41best for the further launches.
44:43Skyroot's growth is India's growth. We
44:45would love to see more than a launch
44:47every month. And all the best all the
44:49very best for the future and would like
44:52to felicitate you with, you know, some
44:54Yeah.
44:55>> So, in the absence of people, I'll just
44:57take this opportunity to
44:59felicitate you.
45:01Many thanks for your time.
45:06Now, as a token of our appreciation,
45:07we'd like to give you something.

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