SpaceFields Turns Solid-Propulsion R&D into Scaled Manufacturing for Defence

Bengaluru spacetech startup SpaceFields, incubated at IISc, is scaling from propulsion R&D into defence-grade manufacturing. The company has raised Rs 53.5 crore to date, including a Rs 42.5 crore pre-Series A round, and used the capital to build a 45,000-square-foot R&D facility in Rajajinagar with DSIR certification. Its team has grown to nearly 60 people across aerospace, materials, chemicals, avionics and propulsion.

Defence is now central to the business. SpaceFields develops customised solid-propulsion systems for different platforms — composite propellants, rocket motors and energetic materials, plus an aerospike rocket engine — for customers including Bharat Electronics, HAL, Bharat Forge and multiple drone startups. It has won five iDEX challenges and now has more than 16 customers across government and private companies, including missile refurbishment programmes: with many armed-forces systems past their shelf life and overseas supply constrained, the startup is positioning itself as sovereign capability for refurbishing ageing rocket and missile stockpiles.

The scale-up move is physical: the startup has signed MoUs with Munitions India Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited, and received 121 acres in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, to establish a large-scale solid-propellant manufacturing facility over the next two years. Bengaluru will remain its design and R&D centre.

SpaceFields has filed 32 patents, of which 11 have been granted, generated around Rs 6.5 crore in cumulative revenue, and was last valued at less than Rs 200 crore. Its investors include Globaz Technologies, Rainmatter, Venture Catalysts, Rockstud Capital and Jamwant Ventures. Co-founder and CEO Apurwa Masook says the near-term focus is converting development work into procurement — embedding systems through pilots and iDEX projects so that large-scale orders land in parallel with production readiness.