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Total amount raised
$578M
Latest funding date
2026-02-17
Location
Varda has successfully raised funding over 7 rounds, with the latest being a Series C round involving 7 investors, including Natural Capital and Shrug Capital. The company is backed by 29 investors, with Founders Fund and Lux Capital among the most recent.
What Is Varda?
Varda is a space manufacturing startup based in El Segundo, California. The company specializes in creating products in microgravity and retrieving them for terrestrial use. It operates within the aerospace, manufacturing, and product design industries.
Founded by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov in January 2021, Varda has grown to employ between 51–100 people. The company focuses on leveraging microgravity for life sciences and orbital material processing, aiming to expand the economic bounds of humankind by utilizing space for industrial processes.
How Much Funding Has Varda Raised?
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: USD 9,000,000
- Date: December 2020
- Lead Investors: Founders Fund, Lux Capital
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To kickstart the company's operations and initial development of space manufacturing technology.
- Series A
- Amount Raised: USD 42,000,000
- Date: July 2021
- Lead Investors: Khosla Ventures, Caffeinated Capital
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To expand the team and accelerate the development of their first space manufacturing missions.
- Grant
- Amount Raised: USD 25,000
- Date: December 2021
- Lead Investors: Not applicable
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To support specific research and development activities.
- Series B
- Amount Raised: USD 90,000,000
- Date: April 2024
- Lead Investors: Caffeinated Capital
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To scale up production of spacecraft for manufacturing pharmaceuticals in orbit and transition to serving biopharma and government customers.
- Series C
- Amount Raised: USD 187,000,000
- Date: July 2025
- Lead Investors: Natural Capital, Shrug Capital
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To scale in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing, expand the pharmaceutical lab in El Segundo, and increase the frequency of space missions.
- Series D
- Amount Raised: USD 250,000,000
- Date: February 2026
- Lead Investors: Undisclosed
- Valuation at Round: USD 1,580,000,000 (post-money)
- Motivation Behind the Round: To further scale space manufacturing infrastructure and cement Varda's position as a unicorn in the in-space pharmaceutical and materials manufacturing sector.
Total amount raised: at least USD 578,025,000 based on disclosed funding. Current valuation: USD 1.58 billion (as of Series D, February 2026).
Key Investors
- Natural Capital
- Details: Natural Capital is a venture capital firm that co-led Varda's Series C round in July 2025. They focus on investing in companies that drive sustainable and impactful innovations.
- Investment Focus Areas: Sustainability, technology, healthcare.
- Notable Investments: Not publicly disclosed.
- Shrug Capital
- Details: Shrug Capital is a venture capital firm that co-led Varda's Series C round in July 2025. They are known for backing early-stage startups with high growth potential.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, consumer products, healthcare.
- Notable Investments: Not publicly disclosed.
- Caffeinated Capital
- Details: Founded by Raymond Tonsing, Caffeinated Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups. They co-led Varda's Series A and led the Series B round.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, consumer sectors.
- Notable Investments: CIONIC, Cedar.
- Khosla Ventures
- Details: Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm founded by Vinod Khosla. They co-led Varda's Series A and participated in the Series B and Series C rounds.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, sustainability.
- Notable Investments: Not publicly disclosed.
- Founders Fund
- Details: Founders Fund is a venture capital firm that invests in companies building revolutionary technologies. They led the Seed round and participated in Series B and Series C rounds.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, aerospace, healthcare.
- Notable Investments: Not publicly disclosed.
What's Next for Varda?
Varda's future is brimming with opportunities, particularly in the realm of pharmaceutical manufacturing in microgravity. The company aims to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry by reducing the cost of life-saving drugs and offering unique formulations not possible on Earth. With plans to launch capsules monthly, Varda is poised to make space research and manufacturing more accessible to various industries.
As Varda scales its operations, future fundraising rounds seem likely. The successful Series B round and ambitious plans suggest that additional funding will be necessary to support their growth. However, the company will face challenges, including technical and logistical hurdles in space manufacturing and ensuring the reliability of their hypersonic reentry capsules.
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