News Summary

Varda Space, a company focused on manufacturing pharmaceuticals in space, has raised $187 million in a Series C funding round. This funding will be used to establish a new 10,000-square-foot laboratory facility in El Segundo, California, aimed at enhancing their orbital manufacturing process. The company seeks to solve challenges faced by pharmaceutical manufacturers, such as crystallization of ingredients and drug purity, by using their space-based lab to generate valuable intellectual property. Varda has conducted three successful space missions since 2023 and plans to complete four more this year. The funding round was led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, with contributions from notable investors like Peter Thiel and Lux Capital. Varda also collaborates with the U.S. Department of Defense, using its spacecraft for hypersonic flight testing.