Pixxel, founded in 2019, is building a constellation of
satellites that have the ability to identify mineral deposits or the
productivity of crops by analysing the spectral signature of an image.
Miner Rio Tinto and Australian agritech company DataFarming
are clients, Pixxel said.
The startup has raised more $71 million from investors
including Accenture PLC. Pixxel did not specify how much Google had invested or
the valuation it reflected.
Google in India did not immediately respond to questions
about the investment.
Founder and Chief Executive Awais Ahmed said Pixxel would be
"the most valued space tech company in India after this investment".
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That had been rocket and launch provider Skyroot Aerospace,
valued at an estimated $163 million (roughly Rs. 1,343 crore), according to
Tracxn, which tracks startups.
"We work with satellite data and Google does a lot of
work around that with agriculture and environment," Ahmed told Reuters.
"They also have Google Earth ... so a combination of that led to them
seeing a benefit."
Pixxel is among the many private companies looking for a
fillip since India opened the space sector, encouraging startups to deliver
broadband services like Starlink and to power applications like tracking supply
chains.
The government announced its private-sector space policy
framework in April.
The funding comes at a time when startups globally have
struggled to raise funds. Space startups, in particular, have come under
pressure after the bankruptcy of Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit launch company.
Ahmed said the funding would be used to build out its
satellite network. Pixxel is readying six satellites for launch next year to
add to the three it has now and looking to hire more engineers for its analytics.
Ahmed has said he was inspired to launch a space startup
from a visit Elon Musk's SpaceX as part of a student competition to build a
demonstration "hyperloop" transport pod.
He and co-founder Kshitij Khandelwal set out to build an AI
model that could use satellite data to predict crop yields, detect illegal
mining and track natural disasters.
They launched Pixxel when they concluded existing commercial
satellite images did not provide enough detail. Pixxel's satellites take in and
analyse a wide spectrum of light instead of just assigning primary colours to
each pixel, a technology known as hyperspectral imaging. © Reuters
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