Back in 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were seeking investment bids for their little-known newfound search engine, called Google. Ram Shriram, who was working as a Vice President at Amazon at the time, found it interesting and decided to put down his money. He also got onto the board of directors, eventually shaping the company into what it is today. Today, Shriram is doing something similar with Skyroot Aerospace – an Indian-origin aerospace company that’s now valued at $1.1 billion!
Shriram’s involvement in the project is already gathering headlines. The Indian-origin American investor has committed to funding of $60 million, raising the valuation of the company to $1.1 billion! His venture capital firm, Sherpalo Ventures, was also joined by firms like Singapore’s GIC, BlackRock, Arkam Ventures and Shanhvi Family Office.
Skyroot’s CEO, Pawan Kumar Chandana, acknowledged Shriram’s investment, welcoming “one of Silicon Valley’s most respected investors and Google’s board member” to the company board of directors.
Shriram, who is 69-years-old, says, “Access to space is one of the key challenges of our time.”
With Shriram’s involvement in the process, is Skyroot Aerospace the next Google of our time?
Shriram and Skyroot Aerospace: There’s a history
The latest funding round isn’t the first time Shriram’s firm has invested in the Indian aerospace company.
It was in January 2022 when Sherpalo Ventures led a $4.5 million bridge round, along with Wami Capital and Neeraj Arora (ex-WhatsApp), giving Skyroot critical early capital to develop its rocket technology.
By September 2022, Skyroot had raised $51 million in Series B led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, pushing the startup’s total funding to approximately $95 million and validating the company after Shriram’s initial bet.
In October 2023, the startup raised another $27.5 million led by Temasek, bringing total funding to roughly $120 million as Skyroot approached orbital launch capability.
The funding round on May 7, with Sherpalo Ventures and GIC jointly led $60 million in new funding, propelling Skyroot to unicorn status at a $1.1 billion valuation – more than doubling its 2023 valuation of $550 million.
While Skyroot has raised $155 million in total funding so far, Shriram maintains his position as the company’s most prominent and consistent investor throughout its journey.
So why is Ram Shriram invested in this Indian aerospace company?
Before he established his venture capital firm, Ram Shriram had a corporate career spanning four decades, starting as an engineer at Bell-Northern Research. In 1994, he joined Netscape as Vice President at a time when the company had not shipped products or posted any revenue. By 1998, Shriram had become President of Junglee – an online comparison shopping firm he had founded, thus establishing his credentials as a serial entrepreneur.
In that same year, Amazon acquired Junglee for an undisclosed amount, and Shriram came to Amazon as Vice President, working closely with Jeff Bezos and gaining firsthand experience with one of the world’s most transformative companies.
However, one of his crucial moments came in late 1998, when he invested $250,000 in Google and became its founding board member. This was before Google became the force it is today – it was simply a Stanford PhD project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
His contribution to Google went far beyond money. As a founding board member, he provided crucial mentorship, helping Page and Brin navigate the business world and make key early hirings. His guidance was instrumental in Google’s decision to prioritise search quality over quick profits – a strategy that led to the company’s dominance in the internet space.
According to SEC filings, Ram Shriram still owns approximately 2.47 million Class C shares and 2.11 million Class A shares of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), worth over $747 million at current prices.
In 2000, he founded Sherpalo Ventures to focus on early-stage disruptive technology investments, building on his success with Junglee and Google. When Google went public in 2004, his 2% stake was worth $450 million, cementing his status as one of Silicon Valley’s most successful angel investors.
Shriram’s major investments so far
Since its foundation in January 2000, Shriram’s Sherpalo Ventures has made over 50 investments across diverse sectors.
– Google/Alphabet stands as the crown jewel in his list of achievements. Shriram’s investment in the search engine company led to its lucrative IPO in 2004 and created one of the most valuable companies in history.
– InMobi, the mobile advertising company, grew into a unicorn under Sherpalo’s support.
– India’s fintech payment giant Razorpay also became a unicorn through Shriram’s backing.
– Gusto, the HR and payroll technology company, earned unicorn status too, while Notion, a productivity software platform, similarly crossed the billion-dollar valuation mark.
– Paperless Post, the digital invitations company, also found success as a niche player in its category.
Krikey AI, the artificial intelligence startup founded by his daughters Jhanvi and Ketalla (both Stanford graduates), represents his support of next-generation innovators.
Skyroot Aerospace now joins the unicorn club in 2026, making it Shriram’s latest billion-dollar success story in India’s emerging space technology sector.
Shriram also recently joined GridCARE’s Board of Directors (January 2026), a Stanford spinout focused on AI factory power infrastructure.
Most recently, in 2020, Ram Shriram received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his contributions to American society.
Ram Shriram: What would his net worth be?
As of 2026, Ram Shriram’s net worth stands at approximately $4.2 billion. His wealth comes from from several key sources, with the early Google equity remaining the core pillar of his fortune, though he sold most shares over time. His venture capital returns through Sherpalo Ventures have generated substantial gains across his portfolio. He also maintains an ongoing role on Alphabet’s board, providing continued income and equity upside.
Shriram’s personal life
Shriram’s journey began in Chennai (erstwhile Madras), born into a modest family in 1957. Although details about his early life are scarce, Shriram is said to have faced adversities early in life. Despite the financial hardship, Shriram excelled academically. He reportedly sold his grandparents’ home to pay for his university education and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Loyola College, Chennai, under the University of Madras – a foundation that would eventually prove invaluable for his technology career.
He later pursued an MBA from the University of Michigan before moving to the United States in the early 1990s.
Ram Shriram’s primary residence is now in Menlo Park, California, putting him in the heart of Silicon Valley. He lives there with his wife, Vijay Shriram, and together they have built both a successful business life and a strong philanthropic legacy.
The couple has two daughters, Jhanvi and Ketalla, who are both Stanford graduates and founders of Palo Alto-based AI startup Krikey AI, continuing the family’s tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation