Digantara Secures $50M Series B to Build Full-Stack Space Surveillance Infrastructure

Anirudh Sharma, Founder & CEO, Digantara

• Fresh capital to be deployed towards global manufacturing expansion;
• The company is gearing up to launch 15 space-based space surveillance satellites along with 2 dedicated missile-warning satellites through 2026–27.

Digantara Industries, a pioneer in Space Surveillance and Intelligence, today announced the closing of its Series B fundraise of USD 50 million raised from a mix of new strategic and financial investors such as 360 ONE Asset, SBI Investments Co Japan, and Ronnie Screwvala with continued participation from existing investors, Peak XV Partners and Kalaari Capital. The company aims to deploy this fresh capital into global expansion beyond India and the US, into new manufacturing facilities for optical systems, satellite production and towards doubling its research & development teams globally over the coming year.

This investment marks a decisive inflection point for Digantara as it transitions from pure play space situational awareness company to a full stack space surveillance and intelligence company, developing sovereign hardware, software, and intelligence systems that strengthen national security and strategic autonomy.

Space is no longer a frontier, it is the new high ground for national security. Adversaries of the future will seek asymmetric advantage where sensing, automation, and latency matter most” said Anirudh Sharma, Founder and CEO, Digantara. “This capital accelerates our path to operational readiness, expand into the US and Europe, and drive new programs in missile warning, tracking, and space-based interceptors to deliver real deterrence and multidomain superiority.

“What stood out about Digantara is their commitment to build the full stack infrastructure. From the outset, the founding team’s blend of technical expertise and business acumen stood out, an essential combination for long-term success. We remain committed to backing founders developing mission-critical capabilities across sensing, autonomy, and downstream applications.” said Sameer Nath, CIO & Head, Venture Capital & Private Equity, 360 ONE Asset.

With operations across India, Singapore, and the United States, and an expansion to Europe by mid-2026, Digantara is leveraging its global presence to provide strategic capabilities for multidomain awareness autonomy. The company is establishing a new standard in sovereign space intelligence and redefining how nations manage, protect, and defend assets across domains and this is evidenced by large orders and mission contracts being placed by leading defence and commercial intelligence customers.

Digantara’s systems play a vital role for various governments and defence agencies globally, offering a comprehensive suite of services to safeguard against national security risks. Its integrated infrastructure, ‘AIRA’, unites advanced hardware, data, and processing capabilities across space and ground systems to create a multidomain surveillance capability. At the core of this infrastructure are its sensing systems, on track for launch through 2026-27: the ‘SCOT’ series, a fleet of electro-optical and LiDAR satellites engineered for space based space surveillance; the ‘ALBATROSS’ series, dedicated to early missile warning and precision tracking; and ‘SKYGATE’ an expanding network of ground-based sensors that enables persistent observation across critical theatres of operations.

Through the fusion of these systems within AIRA’s space-and-ground construct, Digantara achieves near real-time acquisition, characterization and interpretation of emerging threats. This integrated infrastructure equips Digantara’s proprietary platforms ‘Space MAP’ and ‘STARS’ with mission-ready data for decisive, real time tactical response.

About Digantara Industries:

Digantara Industries, founded by Anirudh Sharma in 2020, is a space surveillance and intelligence company dedicated to protecting and defending sovereign and allied interests across operational domains from emerging threats while ensuring safety, security, and long-term sustainability. By integrating advanced space-based sensors, proprietary optics, and AI-driven analytics into a unified space-intelligence infrastructure, Digantara delivers the comprehensive domain awareness required to safeguard critical assets and maintain strategic superiority.

More information is available at: www.digantara.co.in

IISc-Incubated SpaceTech Co. Digantara Launches Satellite Aboard SpaceX Rocket

Digantara, an Indian Space Technology Company incubated at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has successfully launched its second satellite named Pushan-Alpha onboard SpaceX's Transporter 6 mission on January 3.

The satellite reached low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US. The nano-satellite will operate precisely in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) and monitor space weather.

T-90 Minutes — As we inch towards the one hour mark for the launch countdown for the Transporter 6 Mission, here is an overview of our space weather testbed, Pushan - Alpha. #SSA #Sustainability #spaceweather pic.twitter.com/9n0Z4qd3u9

— Digantara (@Digantarahq) January 3, 2023

Digantara's first mission was launched on June 30 last year by ISRO's PSLV-C53. It is the world's first commercial space-based space weather monitoring system. The Pushan-Alpha mission is named after the Hindu Vedic solar deity — Pushan, who is considered the god of travel and protector of travelers.

Digantara's Pushan-Alpha in the SSO will be used for enhancing space situational awareness (SSA) applications.

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) refers to the knowledge of the space environment, including location and function of space objects and space weather phenomena. SSA is generally understood as covering three main areas: Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) of man-made objects.

Digantara is establishing a space-based surveillance platform with global realtime earth coverage by deploying a constellation of cost-efficient nanosatellites in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) along with precise modelling through an AI-ML based algorithm to provide predictive and robust space-based situational awareness services.

Last year, Pixxel launched its Anand satellite from another SpaceX rocket, and Dhruva Space launched their Thybolt satellites from an ISRO launch vehicle. 

In November, Hyderabad based Skyroot launched its indigenously built Rocket Vikram S, with support from Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe), the commercial arm of ISRO. 

Catalyst Program Looking for Space Industry Startups Globally

Learn, build, reiterate.

That was the mantra Raj Gautam, founder and chief executive of start-up company QL Space, learned when he took part in the Venture Catalyst Space program, a globally recognized program dedicated to supporting startup founders to develop innovative, disruptive businesses in the international space sector.

Gautam launched his start-up less than a year ago and is developing a multi-sensor remote sensing satellite for the space industry and mining sectors. Once developed, QL Space’s high-tech tool will be used by mining companies as a faster and safer alternative for finding mineral deposits.

Gautam had spoken to alumni of the program and realised that the initiative had a “good pedigree” and many had gone on to achieve their goals.

With the aid of South Australia’s burgeoning space industry ecosystem, the program – funded by the South Australian Government – aims to help international businesses prove the viability of their concepts.

Now in its fifth year, the initiative is based out of the University of South Australia’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre (ICC) in Adelaide, South Australia. The latest round opened today and startups have until 7 November to apply to be considered for $10,000 of equity-free support to get them established.

“One of the key takeaways (from the program) for me was just to have as many conversations as you can,” Gautam said.

“That one sentence was enough for me to put myself in back-to-back calls and try to fail forward, as I like to say, and just give my ideas to people and let them poke holes into it.

“Each time they did poke holes into it, I could rewrite it to a better product. That was a game-changer.”

QL Space has signed an MOU with three Indian space companies, according to Gautam, and they were also finalists in the inaugural Unearthed ‘Thinking Critical South Australia’ competition and won $50,000 in funding.

“I really do feel we wouldn’t be here without the ICC because they really helped just get that mindset correct,” Gautam said.

“Within 12 months to have built a payload and to have airborne testing done on it, I don’t think any startup has done it that quick.”

Applications are now open for the next intake into the program, which is one of the initiatives to come out of the South Australian government’s $4 million .

ICC Director Jasmine Vreugdenburg said the program removes some of the usual barriers to starting a company.

“If you think about a tech startup and all the challenges they face, a lot of them are around finding a repeatable and scalable business model, which is different to establishing an SME,” Vreugdenburg said.

“That business model understanding of what a startup is, which is exploring a new idea or product, and getting education and support around that that exact model, is crucial.”

Vreugdenburg said the program also allows startups to network and build connections with organisations such as Australia’s science body the CSIRO and the SmartSat CRC consortium of industry and research organisations.

“If somebody’s working on a particular technology, and they need some support or some comparative advice, we can say: ‘well, I know this person has done this, or he’s in this area, or she’s experienced here, and she can open up doors and introduce you to her contacts’,” Vreugdenburg said.

Venture Space Catalyst has fostered 29 space startups since the program began in 2018, with 90 per cent of those still operating. More than 70 per cent of those companies have unlocked funding or investment of more than $13 million, and the program has spawned 126 new space industry jobs.

More than half of the international startups have set up an office in South Australia, home to the Australian Space Agency and a leading player in the country’s growing space industry.

One of the participants, Anirudh N Sharma completed the Venture Catalyst Space program in 2021 with their startup Digantara, India's first space company developing India’s first space-based surveillance platform to track space objects.

This year’s impressive Venture Catalyst Space cohort included 10 companies such as Blue Dwarf, ANT61, Orbital Blue and Espy Ocean.

Through the program, tech startup Espy Ocean managed to get a contract with Commercial Fisheries to use their satellite hyperspectral imaging technology to monitor tuna.

“The beauty about this program is we’re providing startups with $10,000 of equity-free support to get them established, rather than a large amount of cash in exchange for a stake in their company,” Vreugdenburg said.

“Startup founders need all those other things that the program provides like the contacts, the education, the entrepreneurial community, mentoring and access to potential first adopters of their new technology.

“I think that’s the main thing: if you apply and you’re starting out, you’ll go a lot faster with this program.”

The 2023 Venture Catalyst Space program will run from March 1, 2023, to August 31, 2023, and applicants have until November 16, 2022, to apply for the 2023 intake via icc.unisa.edu.au/space.