Ahmedabad is emerging as a significant hub in India's commercial space race, with space technology startups founded by former ISRO engineers raising substantial funding. These startups are collectively attracting significant investment, positioning the city as a key player in the burgeoning spacetech industry.

SatLeo Labs recently secured $3.3 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Merak Ventures, with participation from Huddle Ventures, GVFL, Java Capital, IIMA Ventures, Point One Capital, and angel investors. This thermal imaging satellite startup has already garnered over $25 million in letters of intent from potential clients. The funds will be used to advance the development of its proprietary thermal imaging payload, conduct feasibility studies, secure regulatory approvals, expand the team, set up infrastructure, and perform pilot testing to validate its technology and strengthen industry partnerships.

PierSight announced a $2 million funding round from Crescent Enterprises Ventures, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and Seabird Ventures, bringing its total investment to $8 million. This represents one of the largest initial investments for Indian spacetech startups. PierSight specializes in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology for ocean surveillance, including tracking vessels, illegal activities, oil spills, and undersea infrastructure. The company's payload was previously aboard ISRO's PSLV C60 SpaDeX mission.

Orbitt Space, launched in 2025 by former ISRO scientists Christopher Parmar and Anupam Kumar, is currently raising funds for its ultra-low Earth orbit (ULEO) satellite propulsion technology. This technology aims to extend satellite lifetimes and unlock the potential of ULEO for high-resolution imaging and enhanced data capabilities.

These three Ahmedabad-based spacetech startups share two key connections: they all have co-founders with experience from ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC) in the city, and they are incubated at IIMA Ventures. Ahmedabad also hosts one of the two centers for the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), which supports commercial space activities.

Experts emphasize that while funding is crucial, the emergence of Ahmedabad as a vital spacetech hub with a conducive ecosystem is equally important. The close-knit community fosters mutual support, benefiting startups like SatLeo and Orbitt through shared experience and extensive networks. Scaling up these ventures is expected to positively impact peripheral industries and suppliers.

SatLeo's CTO, Dr. Ranendu Ghosh, is a former ISRO engineer and former dean at DAIICT. Sheetal Bahl, partner at Merak Ventures, highlighted the underutilized potential of thermal imagery from space and expressed confidence in SatLeo's technology to make thermal data more useful, accessible, and affordable.

PierSight's CEO and co-founder, Gaurav Seth, who worked at ISRO for eight years, noted that national and global recognition is helping Ahmedabad establish itself as a spacetech hub. PierSight's co-founder and CTO, Vinit Bansal, has experience as an application engineer with a prominent ISRO supplier.

Orbitt Space co-founder Christopher Parmar, a native of Anand, Gujarat, interned and worked at ISRO for eight years, focusing on geocommunication, navigation, opto-quantum communication, and satellite payload power systems. Anupam Kumar, his co-founder, has extensive experience in satellite testing at ISRO in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. Parmar stated that their propulsion system technology would extend satellite lifetimes and unlock the potential of ULEO for applications requiring high-resolution imaging and enhanced data capabilities.