About Antariksh Venture Capital Fund:
- It is a close ended fund registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF).
- Key Investor: Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), Department of Space, Government of India.
- The Fund is sponsored by SIDBI Venture Capital Limited.
- The Fund’s investment objective: To provide much-needed capital to companies in the space sector at various stages of development as well as support the scaling of operations and the commercialization of new technologies, empowering the companies to contribute to India’s broader space ambitions.
- It is looking to invest exclusively in Indian companies operating in the Space sector with Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4 and above.
Key Facts about Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre
- It is a single-window, independent, nodal agency that functions as an autonomous agency in the Department of Space (DOS).
- It is formed following the Space sector reforms to enable and facilitate the participation of private players.
- Functions:
- It is responsible to promote, enable, authorize and supervise various space activities of non-governmental entities (NGEs) including building launch vehicles & satellites and providing space-based services; sharing space infrastructure and premises under the control of DOS/ISRO; and establishing of new space infrastructure and facilities.
- The agency acts as an interface between ISRO and NGEs and assesses how to utilize India’s space resources better and increase space-based activities.
- Three Directorates viz., Promotion Directorate (PD), Technical Directorate (TD) and Program Management and Authorization Directorate (PMAD) are carrying out the functions of IN-SPACe.
