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<keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s leading private space-tech company, Skyroot Aerospace has raised an additional $27.5 million, equivalent to ₹225 crore, in a pre-Series C funding round led by Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore. The present capital infusion builds upon the company's previous raise in 2022, bringing its total funding to USD 95 million, which is the largest ever for an Indian Space-tech startup. Skyroot plans to utilize the newly acquired capital to drive its next phase of growth through increased investments in infrastructure, reinforcement of its technology leadership, attraction of top-tier talent, and the enhancement of its launch frequency and capabilities, all while maintaining a lean and agile core team, the Hyderabad-headquartered company said in a statement. Founded in 2018 by space scientists-turned-space entrepreneurs, <keyword id="6364836" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pawan-kumar" source="Orion">Pawan Kumar</keyword> Chandana and <keyword id="7537906" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="naga-bharath-daka" source="Orion">Naga Bharath Daka</keyword>, Skyroot is the country's leading private space launch vehicle company. In November 2022, it successfully launched India's and South Asia's first, and till date the only, privately developed rocket, marking Indian private space sector's entry into the space launch market. As the leading player in small and medium space launch vehicle designing and building in India's private sector, the company offers on-demand, cost-effective, reliable and regular space launch services to the fast-expanding global small and medium-sized satellite market, with satellite operators who look to deploy single or constellations of satellites across orbits as its customers. Skyroot was the first startup to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the <keyword id="116095" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-space-research-organisation" source="Orion">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword> (ISRO). The collaboration grants Skyroot access to ISRO's cutting-edge facilities and unparalleled expertise. Skyroot is poised to transform space launch capabilities of the country with its Vikram series of rockets, specially designed to deploy small and medium-sized satellites into space efficiently and reliably. "As we prepare for the launch of our second mission early next year, this new funding will enable us to accelerate our upcoming launches planned over the next two years. India's successful moon landing mission has reignited global interest in India's space prowess. As a key player in India's private space industry, we are amplifying our capabilities to tap into the expanding global satellite launch market with a goal to emerge as a favourite 'go-to' choice in space launch services for small satellites," said Pawan Kumar. Bharath Daka said this fund-raise would help the company to invest in the enhancement of production infrastructure, R&amp;D and team strength. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-and-suv-in-november-2023/slidelist/104817915.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-and-suv-in-november-2023/slidelist/104817915.cms" target="_blank">From the new Renault Duster to Tata Punch EV, upcoming cars launching in India this November</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/delhi-woman-loses-50-lakh-in-sim-swap-scam-heres-how-you-can-stay-safe/articleshow/104745898.cms">Delhi woman loses ₹50 lakh in SIM Swap scam – Here’s how you can stay safe</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/x-starts-rolling-out-audio-and-video-calls-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/articleshow/104716334.cms">X starts rolling out audio and video calls – here’s everything you need to know</a>

Space-tech company Skyroot raises ₹225 cr in pre-Series C funding

The Indian Space Research Organisation (<keyword id="6358064" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="isro" source="Orion">ISRO</keyword>) and <keyword id="10387" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="microsoft" source="Orion">Microsoft</keyword> on Thursday announced a collaboration to fuel the growth of space technology startups in the country. Through this tie-up, the space tech startups identified by ISRO will be on-boarded onto the 'Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub' platform, which supports startups at every stage of their journey from idea to unicorn. "ISRO's collaboration with Microsoft will greatly benefit space tech startups in their analysis and processing of vast amounts of satellite data for various applications, using cutting-edge methods like AI, Machine Learning and <keyword id="2144645" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="deep-learning" source="Orion">Deep Learning</keyword>," said <keyword id="2618685" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="s-somanath" source="Orion">S Somanath</keyword>, Chairman of ISRO. Through 'Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub', space-tech startup founders in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> will have free access to the tech tools, and resources they need to build and run their businesses. This includes technical support to build and scale on Azure, best-in-class developer and productivity tools including GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise and Microsoft 365 and access to smart analytics with Power BI and Dynamics 365. "Through our technology tools, platforms and mentorship opportunities, we are deeply committed to empowering space tech startups in the country to drive cutting-edge innovation and accelerate scientific discovery," said Anant Maheshwari, President of Microsoft India. Microsoft will also provide mentoring support to space tech entrepreneurs in areas ranging from space engineering to cloud technologies, product and design, fundraising and sales and marketing. In addition, founders will have access to Microsoft Learn for tailored startup-centric training content and programmes to help them build connections with the industry and potential customers, said the tech giant. Microsoft and ISRO will also jointly organise knowledge-sharing and thought leadership sessions for the startups with space industry experts. The government has opened up the space sector for private players. The country has more than 100 active startups in the space tech sector. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-infosys-wipro-and-other-it-companies-earnings-preview-for-q3-fy23/articleshow/96731891.cms">December quarter likely to be a weak one for the IT sector – Infosys amongst top analyst picks</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/hyderabadi-satya-nadella-insulted-by-his-own-software-as-it-calls-biryani-a-tiffin/articleshow/96756350.cms">Hyderabadi Satya Nadella 'insulted' by his own software as it calls Biryani a tiffin</a>

Microsoft join hands with ISRO to empower spacetech startups in India

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360409" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword> is going back to the <keyword id="42440" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="moon" source="Orion">moon</keyword>, and this time it means business. </li><li>Private companies are helping it build lunar transport, GPS, Wi-Fi, and more.</li></ul>If NASA has its way, it will send astronauts back to the moon by the end of the decade, making them the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">first humans to walk</a> on the lunar surface in over half a century. But this isn't just another scientific mission. This time around, NASA means business. With its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasas-artemis-1-rocket-sending-quirky-cargo-moon-and-back-2022-8">Artemis missions</a>, the US space agency aims to lay the foundations for the first human settlements beyond Earth and pave the way for extraplanetary colonization. And business is at the core of its strategy. "It's not theoretical at this point — it's happening," Brendan Rosseau, a teaching fellow at Harvard Business School who focuses on the space economy, told Insider. The agency is tagging private companies <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-is-planning-starship-launch-moon-artemis-2023-2">like SpaceX</a>, Blue Origin, Nokia, Lockheed Martin, and General Motors, to develop solutions for its lunar missions such as space-worthy rides, moon streaming, lunar GPS, and more. This new market — worth <a href="https://www.nsr.com/?research=lunar-markets-3rd-edition" target="_blank">over $100 billion</a>— could be game-changing for humanity. "Definitely the moon is going to be a big business," said Prachi Kawade, a senior analyst at NSR, a research-and-consulting company focused on the space market. <h2>Artemis is not Apollo 2</h2>What NASA is aiming to achieve on the moon is "something that's never been done before," Rosseau said. While the Apollo missions of the 60s and 70s wanted to see if humans could reach the moon, the Artemis missions want humans to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-artemis-humans-to-live-moon-by-2030-says-official-2022-11">live there, work there</a>, and build there. At first, lunar missions could be limited to a couple of weeks or months in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-details-of-artemis-missions-astronauts-return-to-moon-2020-9">lunar base camp</a>. But down the line, the ambition is for the moon to become a hub of human and robotic activity as it develops into a pit stop on the way to Mars. <div type="image" title="An illustration shows what a lunar base could look like, with astronauts walking around in suits doing tasks and the earth on the horizon." height="1500" width="2000" msid="102476589" hostid="261"></div>This creates a lot of opportunities for commercial development along the way, and NASA is aware of that. "We want to leave behind a wake of commercial activity and commerce and more routine living and working in space," Steve Creech, acting deputy associate administrator for the Artemis campaign, told Insider. <h2>There could be big bucks in moon mining</h2>Ultimately, the moon's main commercial draw is its potential for "in-situ resource utilization," Creech said. This means finding ways to mine and exploit lunar resources on the moon or on Earth. <div type="image" title="A footstep left behind by an astronaut's boot on the regolith on the moon." height="1000" width="2000" msid="102476591" hostid="261"></div>One commercially-interesting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-lunar-rover-found-thick-dust-on-moon-far-side-2020-2">resource is regolith</a>, the scientific name for moon dust. This could be <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Space_for_Earth/Energy/Helium-3_mining_on_the_lunar_surface" target="_blank">mined for helium-3</a> — a rare nonradioactive particle that could be used in fusion reactors to create clean energy on Earth — or could also be used for construction on the moon. <keyword id="1334" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword>, for instance, said it wants to build <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-to-build-moon-station-five-years-lunar-soil-bricks-2023-4">its lunar station</a> out of regolith. Another lead for moon mining is <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/rare-earth-elements-what-they-are-and-why-they-matter-1032148341">the rare-earth elements</a> that millennia of meteorites crashing into the moon may have left behind. These could be mined for electronics, Kawade said. But the moon's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/webb-telescope-captures-enceladus-water-plume-thousands-miles-long-2023-5">most attractive resource by far is water</a>. Scientists discovered <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-scientists-discover-moons-hidden-water-stores-2020-10">caches of water</a> near the moon's poles that could be extracted and turned into fuel to extend lunar missions or to fill up rockets on their way to Mars, per Kawade. "So the moon becomes a pit stop to Mars," Kawade said. <div type="image" title="ice water moon poles" height="485" width="970" msid="102476594" hostid="261"></div>We're probably at least a decade away from sending people or robots to mine the surface of the moon, but that doesn't mean people aren't already making money as they lay the groundwork for this business, Kawade said. "We are talking somewhere about $137 billion in opportunities in the next 10 years, and we estimate about 400-plus missions to be launched during this timeline," said Kawade. <h2>NASA wants to bring business with it to the moon </h2>Artemis is part of a grander scheme to empower the commercial sector to take charge of space exploration, a move initiated by then-President George W. Bush in the 2000s. He asked NASA to put the private sector at the center of its strategy after retiring the space shuttle program. Since then, NASA developed a "real commercial-first mindset," Rousseau said. The agency now awards <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-to-bed-nasa-lunar-lander-spacex-2022-3">contracts</a> to private actors to deliver products — such as rockets, landers, or services — against set amounts of money. <div type="image" title="The space shuttle is seen lifting off in the 90s." height="2069" width="4139" msid="102476597" hostid="261"></div>This means the agency limits its own research and development costs, while companies can take risks in developing ambitious technology because they have NASA as a built-in customer. "It is baking in the commercial sector as part of their plans," said Rosseau. "It created competition. It created incentives for companies to do things as reliably and also as cheaply as possible," he said. Per Rosseau, this model has started to bear fruit. Companies like Blue Origin and <keyword id="6360701" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="spacex" source="Orion">SpaceX</keyword> likely wouldn't exist without NASA's ambition to go to the moon, he argued. <h2>There's money in making future moon settlers comfortable</h2>You can't have mining on the moon without the proper infrastructure. And those looking to build it are starting to see money coming in. One way to support long-term missions is to find ways to do cheap Earth-to-moon deliveries. NASA has been investing heavily in the development of uncrewed robotic landers that can deliver goods and services to the moon through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-rover-rocket-company-commercial-lunar-payload-services-clps-2020-6">CLPS</a> program. Pittsburg aerospace and robotics company Astrobotic Technology is one of the main players in the CLPS program. It landed a contract worth $320 million to deliver several payloads for NASA. One such payload, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover or VIPER, is set to be delivered to the south pole <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-replans-clps-delivery-of-viper-to-2024-to-reduce-risk" target="_blank">in 2024.</a> The robot will seek out traces of water ice on the moon. <div type="image" title="viper moon rover nasa" height="937" width="1874" msid="102476599" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/intuitive-machines-adds-7-on-successful-test-run-of-nova-c-lunar-lander-1032447922">Intuitive Machines</a>, a space-exploration company based in Texas, also won also a $77 million contract from NASA for three payload missions, two of which are set to be delivered this year. One of these is the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) drill, which is due to test for ice below the moon's surface. This, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/projects/PRIME-1" target="_blank">per NASA</a>, will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the moon. Astronauts will also need electricity. One plan is to build local power grids by bringing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-plans-mini-nuclear-reactors-moon-power-lunar-colony-2022-7#:~:text=NASA%20is%20developing%20plans%20to,Mars%2C%20an%20expert%20told%20Insider.">nuclear power reactors</a> to the moon. Lockheed Martin is one of the companies working on a concept proposal. NASA is also looking to develop appropriate moon-worthy rides. General Motors is teaming up with Lockheed Martin to develop a battery-powered lunar rover that could travel much further than those used in the Apollo days. Another prerequisite for long-term settlement is navigation and communications. There's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/no-gps-on-moon-nasa-esa-artemis-plans-to-fix-2023-1">no GPS or Wi-Fi </a>around or on the moon. That means missions rely on constant supervision from engineers on Earth, which will quickly become unsustainable as hundreds of missions are planned to be launched over the next decade. To fill that void, NASA awarded a $14 million contract to Nokia to deliver internet to the moon. <a href="https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2023/02/27/nokia-bell-labs-showcases-cutting-edge-research-on-lunar-networks-and-6g-at-mwc23/https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/28/nokia-set-to-launch-4g-internet-on-the-moon-later-this-year.html#:~:text=Nokia%20is%20planning%20to%20launch,needs%20of%20future%20space%20missions.https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-nokia-4g-network-moon-2020-10" target="_blank">The firm aims to send a 4G network to the moon</a> by 2024.<a href="https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2023/02/27/nokia-bell-labs-showcases-cutting-edge-research-on-lunar-networks-and-6g-at-mwc23/" target="_blank"></a> <div type="image" title="An artist's impression shows an astronaut sitting back while taking a picture of the Earth rising behind the surface of the moon with a smartphone." height="1000" width="2000" msid="102476602" hostid="261"></div><h2>Fly me to the moon</h2>However, the most lucrative part of the moon market by far is rocket development, said Kawade, who leads NSR's lunar-market report. NASA built its own system for its upcoming Artemis moon missions, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-how-nasa-built-sls-mega-rocket-artemis-moon-missions-2022-8">the Space Launch System</a> (SLS) mega-rocket with its Orion spacecraft. But the agency has put the development of the mission's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk-nasa-lunar-landing-astronauts-2021-4">human landing system</a> (HLS), which will bring astronauts from the moon's orbit to the lunar surface, in the hands of private companies. <keyword id="6355315" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Elon-Musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword>'s SpaceX has been the frontrunner in the race to land this bid, gaining billion-dollar contracts to develop the HLS for NASA's Artemis III and IV missions. Along the way, Musk has promised to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starship-rocket-update-flight-cost-million-2022-2">reduce the cost of launch</a> and to make <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-sn15-starship-rocket-fly-again-soon-2021-5">its rockets reusable</a>, which could lower the cost of future missions. NASA's contracts also boosted the development of the company's flagship high-capacity <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starship-spacex-elon-musk-reusable-rocket-mars-moon-launch-2023-2">mega-rocket Starship</a>, SpaceX's most ambitious project yet. <div type="image" title="Starship rocket on its launchpad, minutes before its launch" height="1080" width="1440" msid="102476604" hostid="261"></div>There is one drawback: though Starship is crucial for NASA's upcoming missions, the rocket hasn't yet successfully flown to orbit. In fact, it <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-first-space-launch" target="_blank">exploded</a> on its first integrated launch in April. Still, NASA isn't putting all its stock in SpaceX. Blue Origin recently won a $3.4 billion contract for NASA's Artemis V human lunar launcher, a win for a company that had lost its previous bids to SpaceX. The contract should boost the development of the company's own mega-rocket, New Glenn. Even NASA's SLS spacecraft — which was built and developed in-house, a relic of NASA's old approach to rocket development — has been big money for the private sector. Lockheed Martin was awarded a $2.7 billion contract and a $1.9 billion extension to deliver six Orion spacecraft for the Artemis missions III to VIII. <h2>The market may not be self-sustaining before mid-2030, but that may not matter</h2>At this point, NASA remains the most prominent client in the lunar market. If the US government decided tomorrow to pull its backing from private investment, it's possible the market wouldn't survive off its own back. Private investment in extraplanetary exploration and exploitation has only just started to trickle in, which is encouraging, Kawade said. For instance, AstroForge, an asteroid-mining startup in California, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/26/astroforge-raises-13m-seed-round-for-asteroid-mining-ambitions/" target="_blank">has raised $13 million</a> in private capital for two upcoming missions. Lunar Outpost, a space-tech firm from Colorado, <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220524005399/en/Lunar-Outpost-Announces-12-Million-Seed-Investment-to-Scale-Mobility-Technology-Enabling-Commercial-Lunar-Advancement" target="_blank">raised $12 million in seed investment</a> to develop lunar rovers and technologies. Still, if the market is to be self-sustaining, companies will need to find other clients to buy what they are selling on the moon, and it's not clear whether anyone has cracked this business model, Rosseau said. Still, Rosseau anticipates, this flash point could be coming in the mid-2030s. "I think what really gets investors and businesses excited is seeing these huge tailwinds when it comes to lunar activity," he said. Whether the lunar market can survive without NASA might be missing the point anyway, Kawade said. On the way to the moon, companies are likely to discover technologies that can have lucrative applications here on Earth, she said. Following NASA's lead, others have also started looping in the private sector to their space exploration programs, including <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/industry/space-industry/lunar-market-assessment-2021.pdf" target="_blank">Japan, China, and Russia</a>'s space agencies. <h2>Welcome to the space race of the 2020s</h2>Money isn't the only drive pushing the US and its allies to bring businesses to the moon. There are strong political incentives to get there before China, Rosseau said. "It is a fact: We're in a space race," NASA's current administrator <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-bill-nelson-warns-china-claim-moon-territory-lunar-resources-2023-1">Bill Nelson</a> told Politico in January. "It is true that we better watch out that they don't get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research," he added. "And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, 'Keep out, we're here, this is our territory.'" More than 24 space-faring nations have signed the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html" target="_blank">US's Artemis Accords,</a> a set of rules drawn up by NASA for international cooperation on the moon. China was not one of them. The nation has set its own independent path to the moon, for which it is seeking <a href="https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/china-space-latin/" target="_blank">closer relations</a> with space agencies in Russia, Latin America, and Central Asia. The US still dominates space. It has more satellites in orbit — 3,433 US satellites in orbit versus 541 for China — and has more budget — about $60 billion in 2021 versus about $16 billion for China, Svetla Ben-Itzhak, then an assistant professor at Air University in Alabama, recently<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-us-in-a-space-race-against-china-203473" target="_blank"> told </a>The Conversation. Still, China is moving toward the moon on a competitive timeline. It attempted 55 launches in 2021, four more than the US, per Ben-Itzhak. It was also the first nation to put a spacecraft on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/far-side-of-the-moon-china-rover-explores-tracks-2019-1">far side</a> of the moon in 2019 and has launched its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-to-launch-first-people-to-new-space-station-2021-6">own crewed space station</a> into orbit, just as the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-pull-iss-2024-build-own-space-station-roscosmos-putin-2022-7">International Space Station is nearing the end</a> of its life. Both the US and China are signatories of the <a href="https://treaties.unoda.org/a/outer_space/china/ACC/washington#:~:text=The%20Republic%20of%20China%20signed,sole%20legal%20government%20of%20China%20." target="_blank">Outer Space Treaty</a>, which means they've agreed that no country can militarize or claim the moon. But there is still considerable "first-mover advantage" to whichever business gets there first, said Rousseau said. One issue, for instance, is interoperability between infrastructures. While NASA has been working with collaborators to develop a language that could be used across all lunar devices, China has not been participating. If it gets there first, it could set a different standard, foiling the US allies' efforts. "There's a real incentive for liberal democracies to get there — whoever gets there writes the rules essentially," Rousseau said. Correction: August 8, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated the affiliation of then assistant professor Svetla Ben-Itzhak. She was writing from the Air University in Alabama, not Pakistan.

The moon is open for business, and entrepreneurs are racing to make billions

<ul><li><keyword id="2167965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="girish-mathrubootham" source="Orion">Girish Mathrubootham</keyword> is the co-founder and CEO of <keyword id="4621694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freshworks" source="Orion">Freshworks</keyword>, which is worth nearly $13 billion.</li><li>“The point is you don't have to fight at that point of time, you don't have to react or respond, but to use it to fire to do something creative,” he says. </li><li>The 46-year old Mathrubootham shared stories from his life’s journey, from his parents’ divorce to scornful relatives, and how he dealt with the down moments in his life, in an interview with Business Insider.</li></ul>“I have had relatives who have told me that I am only good enough to be a rickshaw puller,” says Girish Mathrubootham, the man who went on to build Freshworks, one of the biggest software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies in India. With a valuation of $13 billion, Freshworks has become the first decacorn (a startup valued at over $10 billion) in this space and the first Indian SaaS company to<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/freshworks-ipo-the-success-story-of-indias-first-saas-company-to-be-listed-in-us-stock-exchange/articleshow/86453444.cms"> list on Nasdaq</a>. In a candid conversation with Business Insider, the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) opened up about his early life and the challenges he overcame. The 46-year old Mathrubootham remembered the scornful remarks from 1992, when he couldn't score high enough in his class 12 and entrance exams for engineering ⁠— not from his parents but his relatives ⁠— while speaking about how he dealt with the down moments in his life. “The point is you don't have to fight (the naysayers) at that point of time, you don't have to react or respond, but to use it to fire to do something creative,” Mathrubootham says. <div type="Video" msid="86606660" hostid="261" title="A candid conversation with Freshworks founder and CEO, Girish Mathubootham" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=86606660"></div> “The other thing to do is truly follow your heart, you will be happy,” he adds, while citing multiple examples from the Indian film industry including Rajkumar Hirani’s blockbuster 3 idiots. “Madhavan [R Madhavan, who plays Farhan in 3 Idiots] says, ‘It’s okay I will not have enough money but so what, I will be happy as a wildlife photographer’,” Mathrubootham recites the dialogue. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> ‘Success is not always about money’ He had moved back to India from the US after the dotcom bubble had burst at the turn of the millennium. From earning $85,000 a year in 2001, he was back in India at a job that only paid him ₹40,000 a month in 2005-06. His father, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/meet-girish-mathrubootham-founder-and-ceo-of-freshworks/articleshow/86453777.cms#:~:text=Girish%20Mathrubootham%20is%20the%20star,so%20that%20his%20employees%20could.">a retired bank officer today</a>, was concerned because in his eyes all of Girish’s friends were successful with well paying jobs and had bought their own house. Girish, on the other hand, only had the in-hand salary and a two-bedroom apartment on a loan. “People’s definition of success is different. I was looking at being happy. So I was going after what made me happy, not chasing money. I was enjoying my career, building products and having fun, my friends knew that but I think that was okay,” he adds. ‘Differentiating the well wishers and well informed’ Mathrubootham doesn’t take advice from everyone. “If you are Sachin Tendulkar, who do you take advice from — Gary Kirsten or the other man who is there in every Tendulkar match with the Indian flag painted on his body,” he says. He was referring to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudhir_Kumar_Chaudhary">Sudhir Gautam</a>, a die-hard fan of Tendulkar and one who would famously be seen in every match that Team India played at home. “The said man (Sudhir Gautam) is a well wisher but Kirsten has more knowledge about this field,” Mathrubootham adds. <div type="image" title="Someone said I am good enough to be a rickshaw puller,&amp;quot; shares Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham in a candid chat" msid="86508163" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sudhir Gautam&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “I don’t give the key to my happiness to anyone and recommend my wife to do the same,” Mathrubootham says. An early jolt that made him independent Mathrubootham was young when his parents got divorced. "I would just say that experience also made me who I am and so in a very simple sense that I had to kind of fend for myself, take my own decisions and be accountable for those decisions," he says, adding he doesn’t like taking decisions on other peoples’ part including that of his own children. If you take all the decisions for your children until they’re 25, how do you expect them to go out into the world, he adds. “Decision making also needs experience,” he believes. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/meet-girish-mathrubootham-founder-and-ceo-of-freshworks/articleshow/86453777.cms">Girish Mathrubootham, the son of a retired bank officer who built a $13 billion company in just 10 years </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/freshworks-ipo-lists-on-us-exchange-gives-tribute-to-rajinikanth-during-the-listing-ceremony/articleshow/86452943.cms">Landmark moment for this Rajinikanth fan’s SaaS startup on listing at US exchange </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/we-asked-three-spacetech-entrepreneurs-what-it-takes-to-enter-the-field-and-they-listed-out-the-opportunities/articleshow/86484417.cms">We asked three spacetech entrepreneurs what it takes to enter the field and they listed out the opportunities</a>

WATCH: "Someone said I am good enough to be a rickshaw puller," shares Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham in a candid chat

It’s aptly quoted, “We were born as explorers, not caretakers”. The “beyond planet” fascination is hard to explain but it is what it is. Technology and so much else has changed over the decades since those first footprints in the lunar dust that there’s now a good chance a <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA">NASA</keyword> astronaut won’t be the first to walk out onto the next new world. 
 
TeamIndus, an aerospace start-up based out of Bangalore is going to be the first privately funded company in the world to land a rover on moon and it’ll be done with the help of former ISRO scientists who have worked on projects like Aryabhatta and Chandrayaan-1. 
 
From an IT job to being a space-tech entrepreneur 
 “Rahul Narayan (Co-founder) was working at an IT firm and he then saw this wallpaper of Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) on a desktop. The first thing he did was find out what it was and then call the GLXP office to find out which Indian team was in the competition. Fortunately, there was no one and then at the moment he registered. Quit his job and started pursuing this,” said <keyword id="3453187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sheelika-ravishankar">Sheelika Ravishankar</keyword>, Marketing and Outreach. 
 For an engineer working at an IT firm leaving his job to pursue his dreams has always been a risky venture. Guess what? Risk takers get rewards. He then took this company to a point where <keyword id="44604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nandan-Nilekani">Nandan Nilekani</keyword>, and former Yahoo India R&amp;D chief <keyword id="207306" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sharad-Sharma">Sharad Sharma</keyword> were the first one to invest. Why wouldn’t they be? It’s a matter of national pride and not just equity. 
 
Google Lunar X Prize 
 
The Google Lunar XPRIZE was launched in September 2007. The competition offers a total of US$30 million in prizes to the first privately funded teams to land a robot on the Moon that successfully travels more than 500 meters and transmits back high-definition images and video. 
 
The Spacecraft 
 
The lightest UAV sent on moon was by China, which was nearly 150 kgs. The spacecraft we’re making will carry a 20-kg payload, of which 10 kg will be allotted for commercial use. Yes, they took it to another level (from 150 kgs to 20). “Additionally there are a lot of complications in making an aircraft, we have to take care of temperatures, we have to land on the right spot decided at that moment, right wheels to travel on the surface of moon etc. But we’ve been doing good under the guidance of ISRO experts and our young and enthusiastic colleagues.Of which some of them have left their previous jobs,” said Sheelika. 
 
AI enabled Rover 
 
The rover will be tapped with AI enabled software which will decide where to land at moment. “We looked at all the data from NASA and Russian mission and we found a spot called Mare Imbrium. When the system reaches the surface it has to make decision anonymously. Because it’s moving at a speed of 1.7 kms/sec we needed to have AI in the system. So we collaborated with Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics(LASP), University of Colorado, which is older than NASA.,” said Sheelika 
 
Investment 
 
When asked about how much they need to build a rover and successfully execute the requirements, Sheelika stated that the total sum required is US$70 million and currently they’re in a process to raise another round of US$10 million.

You Searched For "spacetech entrepreneur" and got 5 results

Space-tech company Skyroot raises ₹225 cr in pre-Series C funding

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WATCH: "Someone said I am good enough to be a rickshaw puller," shares Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham in a candid chat

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This Indian Startup will be the first privately funded company to land a rover on Moon

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