Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based space technology startup, announced it has raised an additional $2.3 million in seed funding from Omnivore VC and Techstars. Till now, the startup raised a total of $7.3 million in the ongoing seed funding round.
Also, the startup has announced its plans to build the world’s highest resolution hyperspectral satellite imaging service.
“Our new funding enables us to build a health monitor for the planet through the world’s most advanced hyperspectral small-satellites. This enables us to capture some of the richest imagery that’s ever been beamed down to earth,” said Awais Ahmed, co-founder and CEO at Pixxel.
It’s the first time that Pixxel has shared publicly its plans and capabilities of the satellite constellation it is building, claiming that once deployed it will be able to provide 24-hour global coverage at a higher resolution and lower cost than any existing service providers.
The company said its solution will be able to provide 50 times more information than its competition, and will allow its satellites to track chemical signatures on earth in far more detail, helping solve issues in industries such as agriculture, energy and environmental conservation.
“Hyperspectral imaging is the next frontier in the $400 billion+ space industry and Pixxel has proven it can build the hardware and software to be the leader in this category,” said Ryan Johnson, former CEO of Blackbridge, which was acquired by Planet Labs. “Having the best possible imaging technology in space will be critical to understanding our planet and making life more sustainable.”
Pixxel said its capabilities will allow it to see things that satellites haven’t been able to see so far, such as pest infestations and crop diseases, air and water pollution levels, and oil spills and gas leaks.
The company added that it would launch its first satellite within the next few months, after having scrapped its launch scheduled for February 28 atop ISRO’s PSLV-C51. Pixxel had said that it did not proceed with the launch due to software issues that surfaced during the final testing of the satellite.
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