Isro ex-engineers launch A'bad into space race

Time of India

25-05-2025

Ahmedabad's space technology sector is breaking new frontiers with startups founded by former Isro engineers collectively raising $5.3 million (Rs 45 crore), positioning the city as a serious contender in India's commercial space race.
SatLeo Labs recently closed a $3.3 million (Rs 28 crore) pre-seed funding round led by Merak Ventures, with Huddle Ventures as a major investor and additional participation from GVFL, Java Capital, IIMA Ventures, Point One Capital and several angel investors. The thermal imaging satellite startup said it has already secured over $25 million in letters of intent from potential clients.
Following closely, PierSight announced a $2 million (Rs 17 crore) funding round from Crescent Enterprises Ventures, Sustainable Ocean Alliance and Seabird Ventures, bringing its total investment to $8 million — among the largest initial investments for Indian spacetech startups.
The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) company had its payload aboard ISRO's PSLV C60 SpaDeX mission earlier this year. The third player, Orbitt Space, launched in 2025 by former Isro scientists Christopher Parmar and Anupam Kumar, is currently in the process of raising funds for its ultra-low Earth orbit (ULEO) satellite propulsion technology.
These three spacetech startups are connected by two factors, besides being based in Ahmedabad — they all have co-founders with experience from Isro's Space Applications Centre (SAC) in the city and they are incubated at IIMA Ventures.
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Notably, Ahmedabad has one of the two centres for Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) supporting commercial space activities.
Experts said that while the money part is crucial for the founders who often take a leap of faith with their ideas, the important outcome is the emergence of the city as a vital spacetech hub with a conducive ecosystem.
SatLeo founders said that the funds will be utilized to advance the development of its proprietary thermal imaging payload, conduct critical feasibility studies and secure regulatory approvals.
Additionally, the capital will support team expansion, infrastructure setup and pilot testing, enabling the startup to validate its technology and strengthen industry partnerships. The firm's chief technology officer (CTO), Dr Ranendu Ghosh, is a former Isro engineer and former dean at DAIICT.
"Thermal imagery from space is still vastly underutilized and its commercial applications are only set to grow in ways we may not yet fully grasp.
We are backing them for a genuine tech breakthrough that makes thermal data more useful, accessible and affordable," said Sheetal Bahl, partner at Merak Ventures.
For PierSight, the current round of investments takes the total investment to $8 million (Rs 68 crore), making them among the Indian spacetech startups with some of the biggest initial investment. The startup is pioneering use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for ocean surveillance including keeping track of vessels, illegal activities, oil spills or even under-sea pipelines and internet cables.
In a post, the founders explained that the investments have helped them make new connections with those on the frontline of space and ocean intersection. The Sustainable Ocean Alliance and venture arm Seabird Ventures is backing the startups tackling oceans' biggest challenges globally, whereas CE Ventures is part of the conglomerate operating some of the largest ports in Middle East.
Gaurav Seth, CEO and co-founder of PierSight who worked at Isro for eight years on technologies such as ground-penetrating radar and synthetic aperture radar (GPR/SAR), said that the recognition at national and global level helps the city in finding its feet as a spacetech hub.
"It is a close-knit community that supports each other. Thus, be it SatLeo or Orbitt, everyone gets the benefit of experience and extensive network. If we scale up, it will also help the peripheral industries and suppliers. The investment and support will go a long way," he said.
PierSight's co-founder and CTO Vinit Bansal is an application engineer who worked with a prominent supplier to Isro.
Orbitt Space is the latest entrant in the spacetech startup ecosystem in the city.
Its co-founder, Parmar, a native of Anand, Gujarat, interned at Isro for a year and then got selected as scientist/engineer afterwards. In his eight-year stint, he worked in verticals such as geocommunication, navigation and opto-quantum communication, satellite payload power systems among others. Kumar, his friend and co-founder, is also an experienced hand with years of satellite testing experience at Isro in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
"We are pioneering propulsion system technology that will extend satellite lifetimes significantly and unlock the enormous potential of ULEO for applications that demand high-resolution imaging and enhanced data capabilities. It is a cutting-edge technology and is in different stages of development in other countries across the globe," said Parmar.