SatLeo Labs Secures $2.2M to Advance AI-Powered Thermal Satellite Constellation

• The funding will accelerate SatLeo’s flagship thermal satellite mission and fast-track its AI-powered platform for next-gen thermal intelligence.

SatLeo Labs, a leading space-tech startup focused on capturing high-resolution thermal & visible data from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) has raised $2.2Mn in a seed round led by Unicorn India Ventures. With this, SatLeo has raised $5.5M in total funding to date. The round also saw participation from existing investors Merak Ventures, Java Capital, IIMA-CIIE and Deep tech Investor Manish Gandhi. The funding will be deployed to advance SatLeo’s flagship thermal satellite mission and the development of its AI-powered platform for thermal intelligence applications.

Over the last 12 months, SatLeo has experienced significant growth across technology development, team expansion, funding, and commercial traction. The company has grown its team from 8 to 30 members, bringing together engineers and researchers with deep expertise in satellite missions, thermal sensing, and AI-driven geospatial analytics.

The company has achieved a major milestone by designing and delivering its first experimental thermal payload, TAPAS-1, for satellite integration within six months, reaching TRL-8 readiness and positioning the system for launch. In parallel, the company began translating its technology into real-world deployments through commercial pilot projects, including urban heat island and air-pollution monitoring initiatives with cities such as Ahmedabad and Tumakuru, impacting more than 400,000 citizens. Additionally, the company has built a strong commercial pipeline, with Letters of Intent (LOIs) growing from approximately $15Mn to over $42Mn within the year, reflecting strong market demand for SatLeo’s space-based thermal intelligence solutions.

“Sustainability has become imperative amid accelerating climate change, rapid urbanization, and increasing global uncertainties driven by heat anomalies," said Shravan Bhati, Co-founder & CEO, SatLeo Labs. At SatLeo Labs, we are developing a state-of-the-art thermal imaging satellite constellation designed to deliver actionable thermal intelligence at scale. This fundraise represents a critical milestone as we transition into the execution phase of our next mission—advancing payload performance, accelerating constellation deployment, and scaling our global thermal data capabilities.”

Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said, “We strongly believe that space is an arena where the next technological innovations and solutions will emerge from. This is our third space tech investment. The value of SatLeo presents a compelling opportunity, as it has a strong technological edge with very clear commercial applications aligning with the market needs. The company’s differentiated product is combining thermal and visible satellites to generate high value real-time insights and is well positioned to drive long-term value to become a key player in the space-tech ecosystem.”

In the next 12 months, SatLeo plans to focus on advancing its space-based thermal intelligence capabilities through satellite launch readiness, commercial expansion, and technology scaling

About SatLeo Labs

SatLeo Labs is a spacetech company building an advanced multi-spectral satellite constellation combining thermal (IR) and visible imaging to deliver continuous, high-resolution Earth observation insights. Its platform enables applications across defence, agriculture, disaster response, and urban climate intelligence, helping governments and enterprises make data-driven, sovereign decisions and build climate-resilient systems at scale.

About Unicorn India Ventures

Started in 2016 by Bhaskar Majumdar and Anil Joshi, Unicorn India Ventures is a deep tech focused early-stage fund that invests in emerging and visionary startups. Unicorn India Ventures launched its first fund with a corpus of Rs 100 crore and invested in 17 companies like SmartCoin, Open Bank, Sequretek, Pharmarack, Genrobotics, Clootrack, FutureCure to mention some. The Fund has emerged as the best performing early-stage fund in India with the stellar exits provided by the fund to its LPs. Fund II is a Rs 300 Cr fund launched in 2020 that has invested in 20 companies so far like Gamerji, Probus, Daalchini, Windo, Finsall. Most of the portfolio is scaling up fast and has had several uprounds.

Unicorn India Ventures has closed its Rs 1200 Cr Fund III surpassing the target of Rs 1000 Crore. With this Fund, UIV aims to build a portfolio of 20 startups that are focused mostly in the deep tech sector that includes semiconductor, space tech, and medical diagnostics apart from AI infrastructure and India digital platforms. Companies like Netrasemi, Kluisz, OrbitAID, TakeMe2Space, Aurassure, EyeROV, QubeHealth to name a few.

Recently, IIT-Madras and Unicorn India Ventures launched Rs 1000 crore “IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund I”. UIV is a fund with engineering DNA and has been backing deeptech companies for over a decade. The Fund has investors across the globe represented by institutions, family offices and UHNIs. The Fund has a global viewpoint while sourcing companies throughout the country.