Why Moon landing is big deal for startups? 🧐
The cascading second order effect on space-tech.
Welcome to the 177th edition of the GrowthX Newsletter. Every Tuesday & Thursday I write a piece on startups & business growth. Today’s piece is going to 95,200+ operators & leaders from startups like Google, Stripe, Swiggy, Razorpay, CRED & more
NASA’s 2023 budget was $25.4 Billion & ISRO’s was $1.6 Billion. With such a shoestring budget, ISRO’s moon landing is huge impact on Humanity, the continent & more importantly Indian startups, here’s why ⬇️
Some quick numbers 🗓️
Chandrayan 3 spent about ₹615 Cr to launch a rover on the south pole of the moon. If you have spent enough time on LinkedIn, you know it was incredibly successful. Interestingly, Chandrayan 2 spent ₹978 Cr & Nolan's Interstellar spent ₹1,320 Cr.
Why budget space missions are so important? ⬇️
Skeptics might think - what's the big deal with India’s moon landing?
First/ Changing global order 🥇
The US is no longer the global superpower with China beating it on most metrics. Out of the three countries that have done anything significant in space in a while - one has an unstable government, the other is fighting a war & the third one is dealing with conquering the world.
Second/ Growing space race 🚀
The total industry size is $447 Billion & expected to grow to $1 Trillion by 2030. India's successful landing on the ‘dark side’ of the moon puts it in the spotlight. More governments, space agencies, and private players would trust ISRO for moon missions.
Third/ Potential cash cow for our country 💵
ISRO’s commercial arm earned about $279 million dollars putting 345 foreign satellites in space in the last 9 years. This critical milestone will help ISRO land more private launch contracts. It won't be just cause ISRO's launches cost less. It is our forex opportunity.
Fourth/ Collaborating with private players 🇮🇳
We all can agree - ISRO is underfunded at the moment. The only way it can build new tech & scale is by bringing external capital. This means joint ventures, private technology plays, and creating a public-private collaboration to solve the cash crunch.
But, it has second-order effects 🛰️
Indian space tech startups raised $205 Million in funding in the last 9 years. In comparison, e-commerce startups raised ~$600 M in 2023 alone. It's a tailwind for early-stage VC funds to invest in space-tech startups.
And, space tech startups have seen success 🚀
Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace launched India's first privately built launch vehicle, Vikram-S, into suborbital space. Plus, Dhruva Space has built nanosatellites, Thybol-1 & 2.
Jio & airtel are important partners ✌🏼
The next big growth will come from satellite-based broadband - think SpaceX's Starlink. ISRO's ability to launch low-cost satellites is critical in ensuring we build this in-house and not export domestic capital to the US/ EU agencies.
Interesting times we live in India.
There are decades when nothing happens and there are few years where so many things are happening as India eyes to become a 7.5 Trillion economy by 2030.
That’s all for today’s edition
Thank you for supporting this newsletter 🪄
We spend a sizable portion of our time writing pieces for this newsletter. Share it with your closed circle / Twitter if you find it interesting.
If you liked today’s article, you’ll love these 💙
Are you building an internet-first product?
You will encounter three major roadblocks. First, access to capital. Second, building the right product & third, solving distribution. Go to the rabbit hole to get answers to most of these 3 problems.