Digantara, a Bengaluru-Based Spacetech Startup, Secures $2M Funding from Aditya Birla Ventures and Sidbi Venture Capital
Bengaluru-Based Spacetech Startup Digantara Achieves Success with $2M Funding Boost Led by the Birla Group
Digantara, a leading spacetech startup based in Bengaluru, has secured $2 million in funding from Aditya Birla Ventures and Sidbi Venture Capital, concluding its Series A funding at a total of $12 million.
About Digantara:
Founded in 2018 by Anirudh Sharma, Tanveer Ahmed, and Rahul Rawat, Digantara is one of India’s foremost space awareness and intelligence startups. The company’s mission is to enhance space situational awareness through its innovative Space-Mission Assurance Platform (S-MAP). This technology utilizes an extensive data pool to analyze space traffic, predict collision possibilities, and address national security concerns.
Currently, only 4% of orbiting objects are tracked, leaving satellites vulnerable to various threats. Digantara’s SMAP aims to fill this surveillance gap, providing a robust deterrent against space pollution, illegal activities, and potential threats like terrorism and ransomware.
The company has also developed STARS, a specialized suite for military and defense applications, and plans to expand globally into the US, UK, and European Union.
Funding and Future Plans:
The $2 million investment from Aditya Birla Ventures and Sidbi Venture Capital will be used for product development and team expansion. This capital infusion will accelerate innovation in quantum algorithms, enhance platform capabilities, and drive growth.
In June 2023, Digantara raised $10 million led by Peak XV Partners, and in July 2021, it secured $2.5 million in seed capital from Kalaari Capital.
Chasing Space Junk:
Digantara addresses the threats posed by space debris, space wars, and potential meteoric collisions. The company was founded by three young visionaries from Bengaluru who identified a critical gap in space surveillance. Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara, began his journey as a passionate aerospace explorer at just 22. After overcoming initial skepticism, the team successfully secured a project with a Latin American company, leading to Digantara’s incorporation in 2018.
With support from the Society for Innovation Development (SID) at IISC Bengaluru, Digantara is preparing for a crucial demo mission, launching a nanosatellite equipped with an in-orbit debris monitor to validate their technology. Despite challenges like component delays due to COVID-19, a partnership with Telespazio, a leading spaceflight services company, validates their approach and provides valuable market insights.
Digantara aims to offer debris-tracking data as a service to governments, defense agencies, and commercial space companies, potentially reducing mission operation costs by 70%. Their innovation is attracting global investment, as they work to solve one of the most pressing problems of the future.
Big Plans for the Future:
Digantara’s next goal is to launch two space situational awareness sensors and inaugurate two observatories in India by 2025. Aryaman Vikram Birla, founder of Aditya Birla Ventures, emphasized India’s potential to become a global leader in space innovation, stating, “The global space market is expected to cross $1 trillion by the next decade. We recognize the extraordinary potential for innovation in India and its capacity to become a significant global player in this domain.”
Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara, expressed gratitude for the support from venture capital and the Government of India, highlighting the momentum in India’s space ecosystem. “It’s heartening to witness this level of support, particularly when a leading global conglomerate like the Aditya Birla Group, and important financial institutions like Sidbi, backed by the Government of India, invest in the space sector for the first time. This move is a powerful indicator of the momentum building within India’s space ecosystem, poised for accelerated development and global leadership in space innovation,” Anirudh Sharma remarked.