Varda Space Industries, the microgravity manufacturing innovator based in El Segundo, California, has raised $187 million in Series C funding, a milestone that strengthens its leadership in hypersonic reentry, orbital drug development, pharmaceutical crystallization, and space-based infrastructure.

This latest funding round, led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, brings Varda’s total funding to $329 million.

“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 Space Industries continues to push the boundaries of microgravity manufacturing, delivering results that Earth-based labs cannot match. Inside its orbital laboratories, Varda has successfully crystallized pharmaceutical ingredients in microgravity, altering their structure in ways that enable novel drug formulations. This includes a new initiative focused on monoclonal antibodies, a market valued at over $210 billion.

With its fourth mission, W-4, currently orbiting Earth and a fifth mission expected to launch by year-end, Varda has now completed three successful launch-return operations since debuting with W-1 in 2023. The company’s ability to repeatedly fly, test, and return cargo from orbit demonstrates its operational reliability, a rare feat in the private space sector.

A Dual-Thrust Approach: Pharma Meets Hypersonic

While Varda continues scaling microgravity manufacturing for commercial pharmaceuticals, it has also emerged as a key player in hypersonic reentry testing. The identical W-series reentry capsules used to return delicate orbital materials now serve as high-speed, real-world platforms for the US government to test thermal materials, navigation systems, sensors, and communication protocols, all in flight conditions reaching Mach 25.

This dual-use capability, which enables both crystallizing drugs and hypersonic testing, has captured the attention of venture capital titans like Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, and Lux Capital, all of whom have returned to back this round.

“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.

Terrestrial Expansion and Talent Surge

Varda’s bold orbit-to-Earth strategy now includes a significant terrestrial expansion. It recently opened a 10,000-square-foot pharmaceutical laboratory in El Segundo and established an office in Huntsville, Alabama, a historic aerospace hub. This new lab hosts a world-class team of structural biologists and crystallization scientists, many recruited from top-20 global pharma firms.

“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.”

These scientists will begin developing processes to crystallize biologics in microgravity, further expanding Varda’s pharmaceutical crystallization capabilities and tapping into unmet needs in drug development.

Led by CEO Will Bruey, Varda envisions a future where reentry is as routine as launch. The company builds and operates the space-based infrastructure required for industrial-scale manufacturing and scientific breakthroughs in orbit.

With this new injection of capital, Varda aims to scale its operations, deepen its pharmaceutical capabilities, and widen access to orbital manufacturing and hypersonic reentry platforms for both commercial and government partners.

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