Pixxel seeks $100M funding after Deepinder Goyal opts out
What's the story
Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based space tech start-up, is in talks to raise between $80 million and $100 million in its latest funding round. The move comes after Deepinder Goyal, the founder of Eternal (formerly Zomato), opted out of his planned investment of $25-30 million. According to Moneycontrol, the company's pre-money valuation during these negotiations is around $400 million.
Investor commitment
GIC to up stake, other investors to chip in
GIC, an existing investor in Pixxel, is expected to up its stake in this funding round. The move shows the company's growing confidence in Pixxel and will also help boost the overall fundraising effort. Other existing investors are likely to contribute the remaining amount on a pro-rata basis. These include tech giants Google, Lightspeed, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Aditya Birla Ventures, and Blume Ventures, among others.
Market trends
Rise in investments for Indian space tech start-ups
The upsized funding round for Pixxel comes amid a wave of investments in Indian space tech start-ups. Recently, Skyroot, India's first space tech unicorn, raised $60 million in a funding round. Other space tech companies such as Agnikul Cosmos and Digantara have also secured investments of about $17 million and $50 million, respectively, from Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), 360 One, and Advenza Global Limited, among others.
Project Pathfinder
Pixxel-Sarvam AI partnership for new satellite launch
The funding round comes as Pixxel gears up for new launches. The company has teamed up with AI start-up Sarvam AI to launch a 200kg-class Pathfinder satellite by Q4 2026. This satellite will carry data-centre-grade GPUs to run Indian-governed language models and process hyperspectral imagery directly in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The partnership aims to prove that sovereign AI workloads can be run directly in orbit.