Space sector startup GalaxEye Space announced that it has successfully raised a $3.5 million round of seed funding as it plans to launch its own small constellation earth observation satellites beginning next year. The fresh funding will help bolster the hiring of top-tier talent and accelerate the launch of the world's first multi-sensor satellite for earth observation, a company statement said.

Led by Special Invest, a deep-tech venture capital firm, the fund raise saw participation from investors including Artha India Ventures, Veda VC, Anicut Capital, Upsparks and a consortium of entrepreneurs including Nithin Kamath (founder/CEO of Zerodha), Prashant Pitti (Founder/CEO of EaseMyTrip), Abhishek Goyal (Founder/CEO of Tracxn) and Ganpathy Subramaniam (Partner at Celesta Capital).

It also marks the beginning of commercialisation with GalaxEye customers across the US, Europe and Africa. GalaxEye's technology will enable the production of images with extremely high resolution via a small satellite constellation that, once fully operational, will provide global coverage in under 12 hours.

"We are truly the first Indian space startup incorporated in India to build an imaging satellite and we are committed to accelerating technological innovation in India for the world," said Suyash Singh, Co-founder and CEO, GalaxEye Space.

"I believe this is possible today with the enormous support available from ISRO, government and our global partners," he said. GalaxEye also announced availability of the company's flagship product offering, featuring multi-sensor imagery via modern satellites.

The data fusion technology developed in-house will bring unparalleled insights and data from space, enabling satellite constellations to perform all-weather imaging at all times without atmospheric interference typical of today's single sensor satellites.

"Next year is crucial for us, as we aspire to reach space with our satellite and become the leader in multi-sensor imaging for the industry," Singh said. "We will be seeking an additional round of funding of the order of USD 15-25 million (one million=10 lakh) in 2023 to add more satellites to our constellation as our business grows," he said.

Founded in 2020, GalaxEye is the brainchild of several entrepreneurs emerging from Avishkar Hyperloop, a team of scientists brought together via global competition organised by Elon Musk's aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company SpaceX.