Varda raises $250 million to scale orbital drug manufacturing

Varda Space Industries raised $250 million in a Series D round at a reported $1.6 billion valuation. The round closed in September 2026 and was led by Lux Capital and Natural Capital, with several existing investors also participating.

The El Segundo, California-based company says it has raised about $598 million since its 2021 founding. It builds autonomous capsules that manufacture materials in orbit and return them to Earth.

Varda’s commercial bet is on pharmaceuticals:
microgravity may enable drug ingredients to form crystals with properties that are difficult to achieve on Earth. The company is also flying government and commercial hypersonic-research payloads.

Varda has flown six missions with its W-Series capsule; all except the fourth successfully returned from orbit. It planned to launch two capsules together on a SpaceX rideshare mission, carrying hypersonic research payloads.

The company’s customer mix remains heavily government-based for now:
CEO Will Bruey said about 70% of next year’s payload customers would be government, with the rest in commercial pharmaceutical work. He expects the balance to shift toward commercial customers by 2032.