Space-tech startup PierSight adds strategic investors, bringing total funding to $8 million
'We have the necessary resources in place to reach our upcoming targets,' said Gaurav Seth, Co‑founder & CEO of PierSight. 'This round was about welcoming partners who bring frontline experience in ocean sustainability and port operations and can help us build a world‑class team.'
The new investment comes from the Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) and its venture arm, Seabird Ventures, as well as CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises, and leading technology operators Nandan Reddy (Co-founder, Swiggy), Natasha Malpani Oswal (Investor, Boundless), and Sahil Lavingia (Founder, Gumroad).
'Our mission aligns well with UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, which is about conserving and sustainably using the oceans and marine resources. Sustainable Ocean Alliance's (SOA) investment is a strong signal that we take this mission seriously,' added Seth.
'It's a strong validation to have CE-Ventures as a backer, given that the parent, Crescent Enterprises, operates the region's largest privately-owned independent port operator through its subsidiary, Gulftainer,' said Vinit Bansal, Co-founder & CTO of PierSight.
PierSight is collaborating with coast guards, insurers, shipping lines, port operators, and ocean conservation NGOs to address challenges such as monitoring Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), detecting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, monitoring oil spills, dark-vessel detection, and marine insurance fraud, among others.
'PierSight's ocean-focused satellite constellation will be highly scalable for conservation outcomes by exposing the 'dark side' of ocean activities like illegal fishing and offshore pollution dumping. Enforcing ocean regulations and achieving full ocean monitoring by 2030 is an area where conservationists, governments, and big ocean industries are all eager to collaborate.' Matt Mulrennan, Head of Investments, Sustainable Ocean Alliance.
'PierSight is pioneering a new frontier in satellite-based maritime intelligence with its innovative use of Synthetic Aperture Radar technology. Gaurav and Vinit's technical depth, combined with their proactive business thinking, has been incredible. We are proud to back a team that's building the next-generation ocean observability stack, solving critical challenges in global shipping, security, and environmental tracking.' Sudarshan Pareek, Senior Vice President and Head of Ventures, CE-Ventures.
The company successfully launched its technology demonstration satellite, Varuna, in December 2024 and qualified payload subsystems to TRL-7. PierSights's first commercial SAR + AIS (VDES‑enabled) satellite is in development for a mid‑2026 launch. Its maritime analytics platform, MATSYA, is under development with a planned Q4 2025 release, while a drone‑borne SAR system is in flight‑testing, slated for commercial availability in Q4 2025.
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