Long before Vikram-1 reached orbit or Indian spacetech became an investable category, Speciale Invest was placing bets on companies tackling hard engineering problems.
Among its first investments was Agnikul Cosmos, backed when private launch startups had no hardware, no obvious market and no precedent for institutional capital.
That early conviction gives the firm’s managing partner, Vishesh Rajaram, an unusual vantage point on the sector’s commercial phase, having backed Indian space hardware from slide decks to flight hardware, with capital on the line through both.
We asked him about the capital side of India’s space story: the funding gap with China, whether government instruments crowd in private money, where the best returns sit, and what would have to happen for India’s $44 billion space economy ambition to look conservative.
He responded in writing, with a candour investors rarely put on the record.
