IIT-Madras incubated spacetech startup GalaxEye Space raises $6.5 million, to launch satellite next year

(From L to R) GalaxEye's VP of Product Rakshit Bhatt CEO Suyash Singh, CTO Denil Chawda, Vice President Of Engineering Kishan Thakkar, VP-Business Development Pranit Mehta

Bengaluru-based space tech startup GalaxEye Space on August 1 announced the first close of its current fund-raising round, raising $6.5 million led by Mela Ventures and Speciale Invest.

The round also saw participation from ideaForge, with additional investments from  Rainmatter, Navam Capital, Faad Capital and Anicut Capital.

The funds raised will be deployed to launch GalaxEye’s first satellite the “Drishti Mission” in 2025 and further develop its multi-sensor payload technology, the startup said.

“GalaxEye Space is entering the space backed by the success of 300+ flights with UAV SAR payload. We were looking for a strong partner at this stage to enable the smooth journey and can’t think of better partners," co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Suyash Singh said.

In 2022, the startup raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Speciale Invest, and a clutch of investors including Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath and EaseMyTrip CEO Prashant Pitti.

Founded in 2020, the IIT Madras-incubated company is led by Singh, Denil Chawda, Kishan Thakkar, Pranit Mehta and Rakshit Bhatt. It leverages optical multi-spectral imagery and synthetic aperture radar sensors to deliver data, aimed at sectors like defence, surveillance, agriculture, insurance and aquaculture.

The startup has also been working with drone companies such as ideaForge in defence segment. With ideaForge, GalaxEye is developingSAR payloads for drones having immediate and critical applications for defence, it said.

“GalaxEye has a game changing technology that I am confident will stand out as the category leader. The MSI/SAR technology can help defence, maritime, insurance and agriculture with real-time visibility and significantly reduce their response time," Krishnakumar Natarajan, managing partner, Mela Ventures, said.

Vishesh Rajaram, managing partner at Speciale Invest, said GalaxEye Space stands at the forefront of innovation with its unique approach to combining MSI and SAR technology. The capability has the potential to "revolutionise how data is gathered and interpreted from space, offering unprecedented insights and real-time applications across various industries".