Varda Space Industries is building the world's first commercial space factories for manufacturing in microgravity. Founded in 2020, Varda has assembled a team of over 70 people, including experienced executives and engineers from companies like SpaceX. In June 2023, Varda launched its first space factory to produce the HIV drug ritonavir, demonstrating early progress towards its goal of manufacturing high-value pharmaceuticals in space.

Varda's founders bring expertise in aerospace engineering and business leadership. CEO William Bruey and Director Wendy Shimata are former SpaceX employees with experience in spacecraft design, manufacturing, and operations. The company has raised over $50 million in funding to date from investors including Khosla Ventures and Caffeinated Capital. In January 2023, Varda secured a $60 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to provide reentry capsules for hypersonic vehicle testing, establishing a secondary line of business in government aerospace projects.

By joining Varda, employees have the opportunity to work on groundbreaking space manufacturing technology alongside top talent from the aerospace industry. However, the company does face challenges, including potential delays in securing FAA approvals for its reentry capsules and uncertainty around market adoption of its novel microgravity pharmaceutical development platform. Varda will need to prove it can reliably manufacture high-quality drugs in space at scale to fully realize its vision—a unique kind of execution risk, as it’s not exactly a crowded market with proven success.