In the first significant investment in the Indian space sector since the government’s privatisation policy was introduced in April, Alphabet Inc.’s Google is leading a $36 million funding round for Bengaluru-based Pixxel, a satellite-image business.

A brief about Google is the lead investor in Pixxel, an Indian firm that has raised $36 million

Pixxel, a 2019 startup, is developing a constellation of satellites that can analyse an image’s spectral characteristic to detect mineral resources or crop productivity.

Clients include the Australian agritech Firm DataFarming and the miner Rio Tinto Ltd. said Pixxel.

More than $71 million has been invested in the firm by investors, including Accenture PLC. The amount of Google’s investment or the valuation it represented were not made clear by Pixxel.

Insights into the investment were not immediately provided by Google in India.

Pixxel’s founder and CEO, Awais Ahmed, predicted that following the investment, the company would be “the most valued space tech company in India.”

According to startup tracking service Tracxn, that had been rocket and launch firm Skyroot Aerospace, valued at approximately $163 million.

“We work with satellite data, and Google does a lot of work around that with agriculture and environment,” Ahmed said to Reuters. They also had Google Earth, so the two things together caused them to realise a benefit.

Pixxel is one of the many private enterprises searching for a boost ever since India opened the space industry, supporting entrepreneurs to power supply chain tracking applications and deliver internet services like Starlink.

In April, the government unveiled its framework for private sector space policy.

The cash comes at a time when businesses throughout the world are finding it difficult to raise money. Since Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit launch company filed for bankruptcy, pressure has increased on entrepreneurs in the space industry in particular.

The money, according to Ahmed, will be used to expand the company’s satellite network. In addition to the three satellites it now has, Pixxel is getting ready to launch six more next year. It is also aiming to add more engineers to its analytics team.

Ahmed claims that a trip to Elon Musk’s SpaceX as part of a student competition to create a prototype “hyperloop” transport pod gave him the idea to found a space firm.

Together with his co-founder Kshitij Khandelwal, he set out to create an artificial intelligence (AI) model that could use satellite data to forecast crop yields, spot illegal mining, and monitor natural disasters.

When they decided that the detail in the already-available, commercial satellite photos was insufficient, they launched Pixxel. Hyperspectral imaging, which involves taking in and analysing a wide spectrum of light rather than just assigning primary colours to each pixel, is a technique used by Pixxel’s satellites.

The post Google is the lead investor in Pixxel, an Indian firm that has raised $36 million appeared first on SomMarketer.