Pixxel on Thursday said it has raised $36 million in a Series B funding round from Google and other existing investors, as space tech startups continue to buck the funding slowdown.
Other existing investors Radical Ventures, Lightspeed, Blume Ventures, growX, Sparta and Athera also participated in the round, bringing the total funding raised to date to $72 million.
With the new funds, Pixxel plans to launch six satellites in 2024 and 18 other satellites by 2025.
Pixxel claims to be building a constellation of the world’s highest-resolution hyperspectral earth-imaging satellites and analytical tools. It raised $25 million in March 2022.
The new funds will advance Pixxel’s mission to build the world’s first and highest-resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation, delivering actionable climate insights on a planetary scale. It will also help further the development of Aurora: Pixxel’s AI-powered analytics platform to make hyperspectral analysis accessible for everyone, the company said.
“With this round of funding, we are even closer now to realising our mission of building a health monitor for the planet, and empowering people around the world to make informed decisions about our collective well-being,” said Awais Ahmed, co-founder and CEO of Pixxel.
At a time when overall funding in Indian startups dramatically slowed down in 2022, spacetech startups bucked the trend and broke many records.
According to Tracxn, the total funding in Indian spacetech startups increased to $112.2 million in 2022 from $91.5 million in 2021. From just 11 in 2019, there are currently over 100 spacetech startups, as per the Economic Survey 2022. The year 2021 alone saw 47 spacetech startups emerge from India and around 56 in 2022.
In India, startups operating in this sector create technology and services such as satellites, tools to observe the earth from space, and systems for communication and navigation in space. They also make software for analysing data from space and provide advice to companies and organisations working in the space industry. Their services are also critical for industries such as media, weather forecasting, agriculture, navigation, broadband, and remote sensing.
Pixxel said it has witnessed a landmark year of growth, launching three Pathfinder missions into orbit and growing its customer base by 5 times. Recently, the company announced a 5-year contract with the NRO Commercial Systems Program Office (CSPO) for the Strategic Commercial Enhancements for Commercial Hyperspectral Capabilities program.