Indian space tech startup GalaxEye has closed a $10 million Series A round, as it gears up to launch its first satellite next year.
The latest funding tranche roped in MountTech Growth Fund – Kavachh as a strategic investor. MGF-Kavachh is India’s critical tech-focused fund with former Union Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar as its founder chairman.
In the first tranche of the financing, three months ago, GalaxEye had raised $6.5 million led by Speciale Invest and Mela Ventures.
Other investors in the firm include ideaForge, Rainmatter, Navam Capital, FAAD Capital, and Anicut Capital.
Founded in 2021, GalaxEye is the brainchild of a team hived out of Avishkar Hyperloop, a global competition organised by Elon Musk’s aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company SpaceX. The company develops technologies that work in space, monitoring Earth and envisioning monitoring outer space, while also accelerating the growth of space infrastructure enabling multi-planetary evolution.
The Bengaluru-based startup aims to launch its first multi-sensor satellite and commercial deployment of the UAVSAR system in mid-2025. UAVSAR, short for Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, is an imaging radar instrument used to study earthquakes, volcanoes, vegetation etc.
“We’re targeting mid-Q2 to early Q3 for the launch, aiming for the intersection of those quarters. The timing is more confirmed than before, and as we get closer, the plans are becoming increasingly firm. This fundraising will definitely support us in completing the launch,” GalaxEye’s co-founder and CEO Suyash Singh told DealStreetAsia.
When asked about foreign investor interest in the sector, Singh said: “We didn’t consciously choose our investors; it happened more organically. Moving forward, we’re open to foreign investors. For larger fundraises, we felt that with the US and European economies slowing down, focusing on international markets wasn’t the best strategy at the time. So, we decided to stay in India, where there was strong interest in our earlier stages.”
“There’s significant interest from foreign investors, but geopolitical factors and the preference of US-based VCs for US-based companies sometimes make it challenging. While being headquartered in India can pose some resistance, it’s still a fairly open market. We simply haven’t consciously pursued much outside India yet,” he added.
India’s space economy, traditionally dominated by government agencies, has seen significant participation of private players in the last few years. Other spacetech startups that have raised funds include Bellatrix Aerospace, Agnikul, Bluesky Analytics, Digantara and Pixxel.
India has ambitious plans to win a significant share of the commercial space market by 2033. With this target in mind, the Indian government approved a $119 million fund for its burgeoning space sector, with 40 startups expected to benefit.
The country’s space sector garnered record-high funding of $126 million in 2023, a 7% increase from the $118 million raised in 2022 and a 235% jump compared to $37.6 million raised in 2021.