Varda Space Industries, a pioneering microgravity-enabled life sciences company, has announced the closing of a $187 million Series C funding round. This brings the total capital raised by the company to $329 million. The funding round was led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, with participation from existing investors including Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, Khosla Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, Lux Capital, and Also Capital.
Since its inaugural mission, W-1, in 2023, Varda has completed three launch and return missions. A fourth mission, W-4, is currently in orbit, and a fifth is slated for launch before the end of the year.
Varda’s orbital laboratories are the first to process materials outside the International Space Station, marking a significant step in commercial expansion into low Earth orbit. The unique microgravity environment allows materials, such as the active pharmaceutical ingredients in medicines, to crystallize differently than they would on Earth. This helps the creation of novel drug formulations that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.
Beyond its core life sciences competencies, Varda also operates a hypersonic testbed for government partners. This initiative utilizes the W-series reentry vehicle to advance new technologies. The reentry capsules achieve speeds of Mach 25 during their journey from space to Earth, providing a valuable, real-world flight environment for testing critical subsystems, such as thermal protective materials, navigation, communication, and sensors.
Varda has also expanded its terrestrial footprint. The company has opened an office in Huntsville, Alabama, and a new 10,000-square-foot laboratory space in El Segundo, California. The El Segundo lab will enable Varda’s pharmaceutical scientists to begin developing processes for crystallizing biologics, such as monoclonal antibodies, a market estimated to be in the hundreds of billions.
To support this ambitious work, Varda has assembled a world-class pharmaceutical team for its new laboratory in El Segundo. This team includes structural biologists and crystallization scientists with decades of experience in structural biology and crystallization from top 20 pharmaceutical companies.
KEY QUOTES:
“With this capital, Varda will continue to increase our flight cadence and build out the pharmaceutical lab that will deliver the world’s first microgravity-enabled drug formulation.”
Varda CEO Will Bruey
“Our new lab space is an investment in our belief that in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing will drive the foundation of the orbital economy. By expanding, we can support work on more complex molecules and ultimately increase cadence to achieve the turnaround times the pharmaceutical industry expects.”
Chief Science Officer Adrian Radocea
“Through multiple flights, the Varda team has proven a repeatable orbital-reentry capability, attracted serious DoD demand, and is now turning that momentum toward a world-class crystallization lab that will unlock microgravity manufacturing for life-changing medicines and other high-value materials. We’re excited to support Varda as it turns this bold vision into reality.”
Ravi Tanuku, General Partner at Natural Capital and a member of the Varda Board of Directors
