Daily Newsletter

IN FOCUS

• Skyroot CEO gets real on why it isn't chasing SpaceX
• Sea Group records revenue surge to US$7.8 billion in Q2
• Spotlight: VinGroup hitches a ride with Musk to space

Hello reader,

For India-based scientist and spacetech founder Pawan Kumar Chandana, the ambition to become an entrepreneur traces back to childhood. He was fascinated by how founders make an impact on society by creating jobs, building infrastructure, and generating wealth.

That ambition eventually led him to leave the Indian Space Research Organisation and co-found Skyroot Aerospace in 2018. The spacetech unicorn has since raised US$150 million and built what it describes as one of the world's lowest-cost rockets.

Skyroot's Vikram 1 rocket successfully lifted off last month, giving Chandana relief as he hadn't expected everything to go right. As an engineer, he knew "there are a zillion things that can go wrong in every rocket launch."

He was also aware that globally, no completely new launch vehicle had ever succeeded on its first attempt. No wonder the successful launch served as a validation that Skyroot had built something world-class from India.

This, and more in our interview with Chandana, who also explains why the company doesn't see itself competing head-on with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Samreen Ahmad, Journalist

TOP STORIES

1️⃣ Skyroot's frugal rocket formula and why it won't follow SpaceX

If SpaceX is like a space train moving passengers between fixed hubs, Skyroot Aerospace is more like a cab taking people directly where they need to be. Chandana says it is not trying to face off with SpaceX because it solves a different problem: access to space.

Unlike SpaceX's rockets that serve large-scale, shared launches, Skyroot aims to offer dedicated rides for customers with more specific orbital paths and scheduling requirements.

2️⃣ Sea Group's financial health in 7 charts

Southeast Asian tech heavyweight Sea Group reported its Q2 earnings yesterday, with revenue climbing 48.1% year on year to US$7.8 billion. Net profit also got a bump to US$458.1 million, up 10.6% from the same period last year.

Chairman and CEO Forrest Li said the company's ecommerce arm, Shopee, had delivered a "strong first half of 2026." He expressed optimism that it would hit US$1 billion in adjusted EBITDA for the full year.

SPOTLIGHT

Space, the final frontier for VinGroup?

From one company not following in the footsteps of SpaceX, let's talk about another working with it. Vietnam's VinSpace has announced a launch deal with the Musk-led firm to support VinSpace's first planned satellite missions in 2027 as part of a Transporter rideshare mission.

If the deal goes through and VinSpace gets a satellite in orbit, it would mark a meteoric (pun intended) rise for the company, which was founded in November 2025 by Vietnamese billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, the man behind the conglomerate VinGroup. He reportedly owns 71% of VinSpace, with VinGroup holding 19% and his family the rest.

It's not the first time a little-known VinGroup-linked firm has signed a deal with a major US tech player, following Nvidia's surprise acquisition of AI startup VinBrain in late 2024.

Peter Cowan, engagement editor

TRENDING NEWS

1️⃣ Unitree IPO draws strong demand from retail investors

The China-based humanoid robot maker's IPO was 5,526x oversubscribed by retail investors, with 9.8 million orders placed.

2️⃣ OpenAI completes $7b secondary sale at $852b valuation

The deal gives employees liquidity ahead of a potential IPO after the ChatGPT-maker confidentially filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

3️⃣ Indian fintech firm Skydo tops $1b annualized payment volume

Over the past year, the cross-border payments platform has received final Reserve Bank of India authorization as a Payment Aggregator - Cross Border, as well as approval to support domestic and outward payments.

4️⃣ Nvidia works with Apollo, Blackstone on $500b AI effort

The AI infrastructure financing effort could help Nvidia's biggest customers finance high-end graphics processing units, data centers, and long-term electricity capacity.

5️⃣ ShopBack, Visa add in-store payments in Singapore

The move lets users earn ShopBack rewards when they pay with Visa cards at physical checkouts through ShopBack Pay.

PRESS PEEKS

The following press releases were published as they were received, without any editing from the Tech in Asia team. You, too, can publish your own press release on our site by simply filling out this form. Our team will get back to you by the next business day.

• Nexxen - Nexxen Research Shows Japanese Brands Need More Than Consumer Trust to Grow Visibility in the U.S.: New report identifies visibility gaps to guide Japanese advertisers' U.S. growth strategies across a fragmented media environment
• Sanggabiz - Sanggabiz Launches AI Initiative SanggaTech for Her to Empower MSMEs: Sanggabiz launches SanggaTech for Her, an AI initiative helping women-led MSMEs retain full control over their digital business systems.
• Labor Mobility Partnerships - Call for Applications: Cross-Border Jobs Startup Competition, South & Southeast Asia: Call for applications for a startup competition

EVENTS HAPPENING

This is your last chance to be in the room Enterprise AI's next chapter gets decided at ignitePRO at BATIC on August 25 in BICC The Westin Resort, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. Leaders from Meta, Microsoft, AWS, Nokia, Rakuten, Lazada, Telkom Indonesia, Telin, and more will set the direction of Asia's digital future. Seats are limited and registration closes soon. Sign up here.

WHO'S HIRING

You can post a job here or search for jobs here.

• Marketing Manager (EduTech) at Cakap | Tangerang, Indonesia
• IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) at PT. ASLI Rancangan Indonesia | Jakarta, Indonesia
• Digital Marketing Specialist at Boleh Dicoba Digital | Bandung, Java, Indonesia