Bengaluru-based space tech startup Digantara announced on June 20 that it has raised $10 million in a Series A1 funding round led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India). This investment highlights the growing value of India's space tech firms, even in the midst of the so-called funding winter.
This is also Peak XV Partners' first funding announcement after their recent rebrand.
Through this funding round, in which Kalaari Capital also participated, Digantara, which offers solutions in the space situational awareness (SSA) segment, will develop its space-mission assurance platform (Space-MAP). The fresh capital infusion will also allow Digantara to deploy the first phase of its space-based surveillance satellite constellation.
Earlier this year, the startup successfully launched its Pushan-Alpha satellite from a SpaceX rocket.
Space situational awareness is the total understanding of the orbital environment, with accurate data on space radiation and where each object is located, Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara, had earlier told Moneycontrol.
The round also saw participation from Global Brains, a Japan-based venture capital firm, Campus Fund, and the founders of IIFL Wealth. The company had previously raised a seed round of $2.5 million from Kalaari Capital in 2021.
"We will invest heavily in launching our space tech infrastructure to track previously unobservable objects and significantly increase data points. This will empower stakeholders with comprehensive insights for efficient decision-making in an increasingly complex space environment." said Sharma said in a statement.
“The team at Digantara is working towards creating the most advanced SSA data collection infrastructure. We believe that this will lead to significant capability in the life cycle of managing satellites, which is a rapidly growing market. We are thrilled to partner with Anirudh, Rahul and Tanveer on this journey,” Shailesh Lakhani, MD, Peak XV Partners said.
A release by Digantara said that 96 percent of the 1 million objects that are currently in orbit are untracked because of inadequate tracking capabilities. These can cause damage to space craft.
Through, space situational awareness, Digantara intends to enable sustainable and safer space operations by building a comprehensive infrastructure powered by its multi-modal data pool.
Digantara has also commenced the development of India's first commercial SSA optical observatory in Uttarakhand.
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