Spacetech Startup SatSure Raises Funds From Baring Private Equity

Bengaluru-based spacetech startup SatSure has raised an undisclosed amount of equity funding round led by Baring Private Equity India.

Founded in 2017 by Prateep Basu, Rashmit Singh Sukhmani and Abhishek Raju, SatSure is a spacetech company that utilises satellite data to provide ‘decision intelligence’ across BFSI, agriculture, and infrastructure sectors.

“Over the last four years, we have developed products for various markets where intelligence derived from space data forms the core of the offering, which is globally scalable, proving that such a business can be built sustainably,” said Prateep Basu, SatSure CEO. 

“Our vision is to create a full-stack space-tech firm out of India that owns the data source, the data engine, and software that shall offer simple plug and play solutions to end customers,” he added.

SatSure has three offerings: SatSure Sparta platform for agriculture and climate insights in a freemium model; SatSure SAGE – a life cycle risk monitoring and business intelligence product offering for the agriculture financial services; and SatSure SKIES – a high-res satellite imagery-based infrastructure change detection platform. 

In a nutshell, the startup makes space data easily consumable for its users across sectors. Its SaaS product helps financial institutions provide on-demand credit to farmers. “Their insurance products provide significant savings to Insurance companies on underwriting, monitoring and claims for multiple categories,” said Arul Mehra, partner at Baring Private Equity India.

The startup, which bootstrapped its way to a 50-person-team before its first round of funding, will use the freshly raised capital to hire more people to grow its product portfolio and scale up its international business footprint.

Earlier this year, the company had announced that it would launch remote sensing microsatellites from 2022 for high-resolution images. 

For the same, SatSure has partnered with another spacetech startup Bellatrix Aerospace to help place its payloads in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). “The satellites will host a novel on-board processor for in-orbit high-resolution data processing using SatSure’s proprietary Deep Learning algorithms and ultra low-bandwidth data transmission on a microsatellite platform comprising of Bellatrix Aerospace’s unique hybrid propulsion systems,” the companies had said. 

The two companies plan to have the first satellite of the proposed constellation launched by December 2022. 

SatSure has tie-ups with companies like ICICI Bank, Reliance General Insurance, and Samunnati Finance.

Last month, the government launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA) — a platform to bring together public and private spacetech players, boosting India’s space industry. The Indian space budget has also grown 2x since 2017. According to an Inc42 analysis, the Indian space tech market will offer an addressable opportunity of $77 Bn by 2030.

Last month, space tech startup Dhruva Space had raised INR 22 Cr in a funding round led by IAN Fund and Blue Ashva Capital. The Hyderabad-based startup plans to use the freshly raised funds to provide new solutions, including Satellite as a Service, space-grade solar arrays and ground station solutions. 

Earlier the same month, Starlink, the satellite internet service provider that is part of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, announced its plan to debut its services in India following the appointment of Sanjay Bhargava as the country director for Starlink.