Pixxel raises $100 million in India’s largest spacetech funding round

Pixxel has raised $100 million in what it describes as the largest single funding round for an Indian spacetech company, giving the Bengaluru startup new capital to expand its satellite and data businesses.

Temasek, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and UK-based spacetech investor Seraphim co-led the Series C round. New investors 360 ONE Asset and IMM Investment joined existing backers including Radical Ventures and growX ventures. The latest financing takes Pixxel’s total capital raised to $195 million. The company did not disclose its valuation.

Pixxel plans to use the money to broaden its satellite sensing capabilities, strengthen Aurora, its Earth intelligence platform, develop sovereign space systems and scale up satellite manufacturing. Its upcoming Honeybee constellation and high-resolution optical imaging satellites will add to its sensing capabilities. Aurora will integrate satellite data and generate insights for governments, businesses and research institutions.

The company also plans to increase production at Gigapixxel, its satellite manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, which opened in 2024. The facility can accommodate more than 20 satellites at once and has annual capacity for up to 40 satellites. “Years ago, we set out to build a health monitor for the planet,” founder and CEO Awais Ahmed said. “Hyperspectral imaging gave us a fundamentally new way to see Earth. This new investment gives us the scale to turn that vision into planetary infrastructure.”

Founded in 2019 by Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, Pixxel initially focused on hyperspectral Earth-observation satellites. These systems capture light across numerous narrow wavelength bands, allowing them to identify materials and surface changes that standard satellite imagery may not show. The technology has applications in agriculture, mining, oil and gas, environmental monitoring, defence and disaster management.

Pixxel currently operates six Firefly hyperspectral satellites and says they form the world’s highest-resolution commercial hyperspectral constellation. Its first three Firefly satellites launched on SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission in January 2025, marking the deployment of India’s first private satellite constellation. The company has also won contracts from NASA and the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, multiple iDEX challenges from India’s Defence Ministry, and a role leading development of the country’s first public-private Earth-observation constellation through IN-SPACe.

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Years ago, we set out to build a health monitor for the planet. Hyperspectral imaging gave us a fundamentally new way to see Earth. This new investment gives us the scale to turn that vision into planetary infrastructure.