Space startup Digantara raises $2 million to close $12 million Series A funding round

From left, Digantara CEO Anirudh Sharma, CTO Tanveer Ahmed and COO Rahul Rawat

Bengaluru-based space tech startup on February 28 announced that it has raised $2 million from Aditya Birla Ventures and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Venture Capital (SVCL), bringing their Series A funding round to a close at a total of $12 million.

Last year, the startup which works in the space situational awareness (SSA) segment announced that it has raised $10 million in a series A1 round backed by Peak XV Ventures.

"SVCL is in the process of subscribing to securities of Digantara, upon consummation of the transaction contemplated under the definitive agreements," the startup said in a release.

This funding comes at a time when the nascent space tech startup ecosystem has been buoyed by a host of regulatory push, in the form of the Indian Space Policy 2023, which promotes participation of private entities in India's space activities, and also, the more recent announcement of the easing of norms of FDI in the country's space sector.

Also read: 7 things you need to know about the government’s revised space FDI norms

Digantara works in the space situational awareness (SSA) domain, which 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.

As of now, only 4% of the objects in orbit are tracked, thus leaving a significant gap in the surveillance and management of the rest of the millions of objects in space, the company said.

Digantara’s offerings include Space-Mission Assurance Platform (Space-MAP) which provides stakeholders with datasets and orbital insights, with the aim of ensuring safety and sustainability of space operations. It has also launched Space Threat Assessment & Response Suite (STARS), a platform designed for the global defense sector.

“Space tech is indeed the next frontier for innovation offering unprecedented opportunities for growth. The global space market is expected to cross US$ 1 trillion by the next decade. We recognise the extraordinary potential for innovation in India and its capacity to become a significant global player in this domain," Aryaman Vikram Birla, Founder, Aditya Birla Ventures said.

Going ahead, the startup aims to expand its offerings to the US, UK, and EU. It also plans launch two space-based SSA sensors and operationalise two observatories in India.