Varda Raises $187M to Scale Drug Manufacturing in Space

Insider Brief:

• Varda Space Industries raised $187 million in a Series C round, bringing its total funding to $329 million, with backing from Natural Capital, Shrug Capital, Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, and others.

• The company has completed three successful orbital missions since its 2023 debut, with a fourth currently in orbit and a fifth scheduled by year’s end, making it the first non-ISS commercial material processing in space.

• Varda is expanding its pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, opening a 10,000 sq ft lab in El Segundo to crystallize biologics like monoclonal antibodies to pursue microgravity-enabled drug development.

• Beyond life sciences, Varda operates a hypersonic reentry testbed for government partners, using its W-series capsules to validate high-performance subsystems at Mach 25 during atmospheric reentry.

PRESS RELEASE — Varda Space Industries announced a Series C fundraising round today, bringing the total amount of capital raised by the microgravity-enabled life sciences company to $329 million. The $187 million fundraise was led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, with participation from Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, Khosla Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, Lux Capital, and Also Capital.

Since launching their first mission, W-1, in 2023, Varda has completed three successful launch and return missions, with a fourth, W-4, currently in orbit and a fifth expected to launch before the end of the year.

Varda’s orbital laboratories are the first to process materials outside the International Space Station and mark the beginnings of commercial expansion into low Earth orbit. Due to the lack of gravity, materials such as the active pharmaceutical ingredients in medicines crystallize differently than they would on Earth, creating novel drug formulations that would otherwise be impossible.

In addition to its core competencies in the life sciences, Varda operates a hypersonic testbed for government partners, working to utilize the W-series reentry vehicle to advance new technologies. The reentry capsules reach Mach 25 on their journey from space to Earth, offering a valuable, real-world flight environment for testing subsystems such as thermal protective materials, navigation, communication, and sensors.

“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,” said Varda CEO Will Bruey.

Varda has expanded its footprint terrestrially as well, opening an office in Huntsville, Ala. and a new 10,000 square foot laboratory space in El Segundo, which will allow its pharmaceutical scientists to begin working on developing processes to crystallize biologics, such as monoclonal antibodies. As of 2022, the market size for monoclonal antibodies is estimated to be $210.06 billion.

“Our new lab space is an investment in our belief that in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing will drive the foundation of the orbital economy,” said Chief Science Officer Adrian Radocea. “By expanding, we can support work on more complex molecules and ultimately increase cadence to achieve the turnaround times the pharmaceutical industry expects.”

Varda has hired a world-class pharmaceuticals team that will work at the new lab in El Segundo, including structural biologists and crystallization scientists with decades of prior experience in structural biology and crystallization across top 20 pharmaceutical companies.

“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,” said Ravi Tanuku, General Partner at Natural Capital and a member of the Varda Board of Directors. “We’re excited to support Varda as it turns this bold vision into reality.”

About Varda

Varda Space Industries is making reentry as common as launch. We are building the infrastructure for a thriving orbital economy and enabling foundational science, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical hypersonic reentry capsules. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, Calif. and also has offices in Washington, D.C. and Huntsville, Ala. Follow Varda on X (@vardaspace), Instagram (@vardaspaceindustries), and LinkedIn.

This news release was sourced by Space Insider’s proprietary news engine.

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