Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based early-stage spacetech startup, has raised an undisclosed pre-seed round of funding from growX Ventures and other prominent angels such as Raju Reddy, Dileep Nath, Pawan Sarda, and others.





Pixxel was founded in late 2018 by Kshitij Khandelwal and Awais Ahmed, two undergraduate students at BITS Pilani, in their last year of college. They were part of the college’s official nanosatellite team and one of the finalists at the 2017 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition.





Pixxel Co-founders Kshitij Khandelwal and Awais Ahmed with mentor Dileep Nath, Managing Director, Aaroha Pte Ltd.





Pixxel is building a constellation of remote sensing satellites that will launch into space and beam down data that will be used to map minerals, water, and other resources on the moon, Mars, and even the asteroid belt. They are currently manufacturing the first of their satellites, which will be launch-ready by the end of the year and will be put in orbit early next year. The seed round of funding will be used to manufacture the prototype satellite.





Commenting on the fund raise, the company’s founders said:





“Our vision when we started was to build a world-beating company out of India that would operate at the cutting edge of space technology and contribute meaningfully towards space exploration.”





Speaking about the investment, Sheetal Bahl, Managing Partner at growX Ventures, said, “Awais and Kshitij are the youngest, and among the most impressive founders we have invested in. They are envisioning the creation of a solution to capture high-resolution information of every location on the planet."





"This will enable them to monitor ever-changing situations that influence the environment, the economy, the security of nations, and help governments and organisations make smarter day-to-day operational decisions,” Sheetal added.





growX Ventures is a B2B and deep tech-focused early-stage venture fund, that looks at seed and pre-Series A stages across a wide range of sectors. It has invested in over 25 companies.

(With inputs from Tenzin Pema)

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)