Ahmedabad-based spacetech startup PierSight has successfully raised $6 million in its seed funding round, co-led by Alpha Wave Ventures and Elevation Capital. The round also saw participation from its existing investor, Techstars. The startup plans to utilize the fresh funds to acquire and test critical hardware, expand its team, and design and launch demo and operational satellites.
Founded in 2023 by Gaurav Seth and Vinit Bansal, PierSight focuses on building a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) integrated satellite technology for persistent ocean monitoring. The integration of SAR and AIS aims to provide “eyes and ears” at sea, offering 30-minute interval monitoring capabilities. The startup targets multiple sectors, including shipping, insurance, defense, coastguard, and the oil and gas industry.
“Illegal fishing causes direct losses of $24 billion annually. Oil spills are difficult to monitor and combat, and are destroying delicate ecosystems. Terrorist infiltrations via sea are extremely hard to detect even for the most sophisticated of coastguards and naval forces. Persistent monitoring unlocks capabilities that weren’t previously available. Unlike traditional Earth observation solutions which are incremental, this is a step function change,” said Seth and Bansal in a joint statement.
PierSight is currently focused on designing and launching a demo satellite on ISRO’s PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) platform, along with deploying its first operational satellite.
Navroz D Udwadia, co-founder of Alpha Wave Ventures, expressed optimism about PierSight’s potential to bring a paradigm shift to the surveillance industry. He highlighted the startup’s ability to set a new industry standard and catalyze global efforts for sustainable marine resource usage.
The funding round aligns with the current boom in the Indian spacetech industry, with increasing entrepreneurship and investment fostering innovation. PierSight faces competition from startups such as GalaxEye and Pixxel.
The startup disclosed that it has gained access to IN-SPACe’s (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre) labs for satellite development under the mentorship of Rajeev Jyoti, technical director at the nodal agency. PierSight has also been part of the Techstars Space Accelerator program in the US and previously received funding from Techstars.
Matt Kozlov, MD of Techstars Space Accelerator, highlighted PierSight’s substantial growth in business pipelines both in the US and internationally within three months of investment.
According to Inc42’s recent research report, India’s total spacetech market opportunity is projected to reach $77 billion by 2030, growing at a 26% CAGR between 2023 and 2030, with the maritime sector accounting for over $3.2 billion.
