GalaxEye raises $3.5 Mn seed round led by Speciale Invest

GalaxEye Space, a SpaceTech start-up focused on earth observation, today announced that it has successfully raised a $3.5 million round of seed round of funding led by Special Invest, a deep-tech venture capital firm. This raise is historic for the India SpaceTech market given the funding amount and speed with which the round was closed. The new round also had participation from investors including Artha India Ventures, Veda VC, Anicut Capital, Upsparks and a consortium of entrepreneurs including Nithin Kamath (Founder/CEO of Zerodha), Prashant Pitti (Founder/CEO of EaseMyTrip), Abhishek Goyal (Founder/CEO of Tracxn) and Ganpathy Subramaniam (Partner at Celesta Capital). The fresh funding will help bolster the hiring of top-tier talent and accelerate the launch of the world’s first multi-sensor satellite for earth observation. This will also mark the beginning of commercialization with GalaxEye customers across the US, Europe and Africa.

“We are truly the first Indian space start-up incorporated in India to build an imaging satellite and we are committed to accelerating technological innovation in India for the world,” stated Suyash Singh, Co-founder & CEO, GalaxEye Space. “I believe this is possible today with the enormous support available from ISRO, government and our global partners.” 

GalaxEye also announced availability of the company’s flagship product offering, featuring multi-sensor imagery via modern satellites. The data fusion technology developed in-house will bring unparalleled insights and data from space, enabling satellite constellations to perform all-weather imaging at all times without atmospheric interference typical of today’s single sensor satellites. GalaxEye’s technology will enable the production of images with extremely high resolution via a small satellite constellation that, once fully operational, will provide global coverage in under 12 hours. 

“Next year is crucial for us, as we aspire to reach space with our satellite and become the leader in multi-sensor imaging for the industry, “added Singh. “We will be seeking an additional round of funding of the order of $15-25 M in 2023 to add more satellites to our constellation as our business grows. We are grateful for the immense support and guidance from the mentors, investors, industry, and customers received so far. It’s an exciting time for GalaxEye.”

Founded in 2020, GalaxEye is the brainchild of several entrepreneurs emerging from Avishkar Hyperloop, a team of scientists brought together via global competition organized by Elon Musk’s aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company SpaceX. The team, which is now also funded by the Indian Railways, was the only Asian team represented at the finale of the 2019 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod competition and was also a part of the FalconX immersion program 2022, which was based in Silicon Valley, California.

“GalaxEye is one of the unique companies with the vision to democratize access to space for the small satellite market. Their team has a distinctive mix of domain strength and tenacity that will get them to space, making India self-reliant. This investment aligns with our vision of backing visionary founders with disruptive companies to solve global problems via tech innovations. We wish the team continued success,” said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest.

The company previously raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed funding round led by Speciale Invest in May 2021. This investment facilitated completing Proof of Concept and Prototype Development and Demonstration.

GalaxEye has already signed partnerships and commercial contracts with several leading organizations in the space tech ecosystem, including US-based space software provider Antaris. The company plans to continue expanding its partnerships and customer base in the coming months and has submitted a proposal to IN-SPACe seeking support from ISRO.