Varda Space Industries has raised $251 million in Series D funding, bringing total capital raised by the microgravity-enabled life sciences company to $598 million as it scales pharmaceutical manufacturing in orbit and its space-to-Earth reentry infrastructure.
The financing was led by Lux Capital and Natural Capital, with participation from Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, 8090 Industries, Giant Step, and Also Capital.
Varda is developing technology to process pharmaceuticals in microgravity, where the absence of gravity can enable active pharmaceutical ingredients to crystallize in ways that are difficult or impossible to replicate on Earth.
The company believes those differences can enable new drug formulations and ultimately make orbital pharmaceutical processing a regular component of drug development and production.
Varda said research aboard the International Space Station has demonstrated the potential of microgravity for pharmaceutical development. Its approach combines pharmaceutical processing with spacecraft designed to return manufactured material safely to Earth.
Since its first mission launched in 2023, Varda has completed six successful reentry missions and plans more than a dozen additional launches and reentries through 2028.
Varda’s W-Series spacecraft reach approximately Mach 25 during reentry, providing commercial and government customers with a repeatable system for returning materials and data from orbit.
The new capital will be used to increase Varda’s mission cadence, expand pharmaceutical partnerships, and move closer to producing what the company expects will become the first pharmaceutical manufactured in space for use by patients on Earth.
KEY QUOTES:
“We started Varda with the conviction that the first product manufactured in space and consumed on Earth would be a pharmaceutical. This round gives us the resources to increase our cadence, deepen our pharmaceutical partnerships, get closer to delivering the first medicine made in space.”
Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder and President of Varda Space Industries
“In-space manufacturing means building what space needs, in space, and making what Earth can’t. Varda is making life-saving drugs impossible to make under gravity. It’s the first and only company delivering a real cadence of launches and re-entries, with capsules built to manufacture the impossible and return it home.”
Shahin Farshchi, Partner at Lux Capital
