Varda Space Industries has successfully secured a substantial $90 million Series B funding round shortly after the triumphant return of its inaugural drug manufacturing capsule from orbit.
This funding round signals a pivotal moment for the company, propelling it towards scaling operations from the initial demonstration mission to a regular series of missions catering to customer payloads, as shared by Varda founder Delian Asparouhov with TechCrunch.
Founded in 2021 by Asparouhov, also a partner at Founders Fund, and Will Bruey, a spacecraft engineer with experience at SpaceX, Varda embarked on an ambitious journey to commercialize microgravity effects on pharmaceutical crystals, previously limited to research endeavors.
Varda’s Mission
While Varda’s first mission, culminating in February after ten months in orbit, isn’t the maiden voyage for drug crystallization in microgravity, it represents a significant shift in commercial viability. Traditional constraints such as crew limitations aboard the International Space Station (ISS), intellectual property concerns, and rudimentary in-space pharmaceutical lab equipment have historically impeded progress in this domain.
However, advancements in the space industry, including cost-effective rideshare launches facilitated by SpaceX and innovations in satellite bus manufacturing by companies like Rocket Lab, have opened new avenues for ventures like Varda.
Varda’s success isn’t merely confined to mission execution; the company is actively disseminating its research findings, including a scientific paper on its hyper-gravity crystallization platform. This platform, designed as a preliminary screening method before drug experimentation in space, introduces a novel approach harnessing gravity as a variable in scientific exploration.
Space Orbit
What’s Next for Varda
As Varda progresses, it aims to leverage data correlations between hyper-gravity and microgravity experiments to enhance drug performance understanding. While the company plans eventual capsule refurbishment and reuse akin to SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, immediate focus lies on increasing mission cadence before pursuing full reusability.
Pharmaceuticals remain Varda’s primary focus for the foreseeable future, driven by the economic potential of microgravity-produced drugs. With signed contracts with biotech companies and future missions lined up, Varda’s trajectory in advancing space-based drug manufacturing appears promising.
The $90 million Series B financing, led by Caffeinated Capital and supported by Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, and Khosla Ventures, brings Varda’s total funding to $145 million, setting the stage for further expansion and innovation in the burgeoning field of space pharmaceuticals.