Varda Space Industries, a life sciences company based in El Segundo, pulled in a Series C funding round co-led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital. The raise, valued at $187 million, brings Varda’s total capital raised to $329 million.
The company works to enable pharmaceutical development in microgravity environments, having completed three successful launch and return missions of its orbital laboratories since 2023. Varda can create novel drug formulations that are exclusively possible through zero-gravity environments because various active medicinal ingredients crystallize differently than they would on Earth
“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,” Will Bruey, Varda’s CEO, said in a statement.
Alongside building out its orbital solutions, the company recently opened a new lab in El Segundo. The space spans 10,000 square feet and will enable Varda’s pharmaceutical scientists to develop processes for crystallizing biologics like monoclonal antibodies.
