The new funding will enable Pixxel to expedite production of the world’s highest resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation
Spacetech startup Pixxel has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Toronto-based Radical Ventures, making it India’s largest fundraise by a space technology company to date, the company said in a statement.
Founded by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal in 2019, Pixxel is a hyperspectral imaging startup. Hyperspectral imaging is a technology that can analyse a wide spectrum of light in an image, instead of just assigning primary colours (red, green, blue) to each pixel. This leads to better data and insights from images of Earth from space. Hyperspectral imaging has a number of applications, such as monitoring methane emissions and disease outbreaks across farmland. Additional participation in Pixxel’s Series A comes from Jordan Noone, Seraphim Space Investment, Lightspeed Partners, Blume Ventures, Sparta LLC and Inventus Capital India.
The new funding will enable Pixxel to expedite production of the world’s highest resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation and to offer industry AI-powered insights that discover, solve, and predict climate issues at a fraction of traditional satellite costs, it said in a statement.
“We’re excited to welcome these new investors as we work to address one of the most pressing issues facing our planet,” said Pixxel CEO Awais Ahmed. “We’re committed to providing a critical tool in the fight against climate change, helping researchers and on-the-ground responders detect and develop effective strategies to combat imminent environmental threats. This funding will not only assist us with this goal but will help us improve our software capabilities so that organizations of all sizes can access and understand this data.”
Pixxel is launching the first of its hyperspectral satellites as a part of SpaceX’s upcoming April Transporter-4 mission. These earth-imaging microsatellites have 50x higher resolution than existing multispectral counterparts and unlike drone or land-based multispectral sensors, Pixxel will be able to capture data at global scale.
“Equipped with AI and machine learning technology built by an impressive team, Pixxel’s technology closely aligns with how we believe AI can change the world for good and we’re excited to support them on this journey,” said Parasvil Patel, partner Radical Ventures.
In March 2021, the company closed its seed round worth $7.3 million, which saw participation from Lightspeed Ventures, Blume Ventures, growX, Omnivore, Techstars and others.
