The round was co-led by Antler India and Veda VC. Anicut Capital, DeVC India, and PointOne Capital also participated in the round
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InspeCity is on a mission to build the first city in a suitable orbit between Earth and the moon to address the problem of resource scarcity on Earth.
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The company is developing enabling technologies for building these cities, and autonomous robotic platforms are a key piece of technology that allows the company to service satellites in all orbits.
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The new lease of funding would help the company to demonstrate its technology for in-orbit servicing by showing that a defunct satellite can be docked with Vehicle for life-Extension and Deorbiting Activities (VEDA) on an air-bearing platform.
INDIA, Mumbai, April 25, 2023: InspeCity, a space tech startup, has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Speciale Invest, a deep-tech venture capitalist. The round was co-led by Antler India and Veda VC. Other investors participating in the round include Anicut Capital, DeVC India and others. The recent pre-seed funding is a clear indication of the growing support for InspeCity’s mission to build advanced autonomous robotic platforms for in-space servicing. It will also be channelised to develop the tech stack within the company and attract quality talent to accomplish the mission and vision.
Founded in mid-2022, InspeCity has a mission to build the first city in a suitable orbit between Earth and the moon, addressing the problem of resource scarcity on Earth. The company is currently developing enabling technologies for building those cities, with autonomous robotic platforms being a key technology that allows them to service satellites in all orbits. Such capabilities allow for easy manipulation and machining of larger structures in space. InspeCity envisions building space factories that support a true in-space economy and eventually building the city.
InspeCity’s cutting-edge technology and long-term vision are well-suited to meet the increasing demand for non-GEO satellite constellations, making it an important player in the growing space industry. Northern Sky Search projects IoSM revenue to reach $14.3 billion by 2031, with life extension contributing $4.7 billion.
The investment raised will primarily be used to achieve two objectives. Firstly, InspeCity aims to demonstrate that a defunct satellite can be docked with a deorbited satellite using its Vehicle for life-Extension and Deorbiting Activities (VEDA) on an air-bearing platform, where both satellites will move without friction. VEDA will autonomously locate the defunct satellite and dock with it using a proprietary robotic mechanism named RAMA (Remotely Actuated Motorized Arm). The demonstration will prove the effectiveness of InspeCity’s technology for in-orbit servicing. Secondly, the funding will be utilized to develop InspeCity’s technology further and expand its team.
“We are grateful for the support of our investors as we pursue our mission to build the first city in space. This will tremendously help us further develop our technology for in-orbit servicing and autonomous robotic platforms. Our vision is to create a new economy in space and build human habitats that transcend the limitations of our current planetary systems. We are excited to have our investors join us in this journey towards the future of space exploration and development,” said Arindrajit Chowdhury, CEO, Inspecity.
“We are very excited to support InspeCity’s ambitious mission to build cities in space. The company’s innovative technology, particularly its autonomous robotic platforms and in-orbit servicing capabilities, holds promise for the future of space exploration and development. We have immense confidence in InspeCity’s ability to achieve its goals and are proud to be part of its journey. We look forward to collaborating with the team and backing them to their success,” said Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner at Speciale Invest.
With its focus on developing innovative solutions for in-space servicing and building large-scale human habitats beyond the constraints of current planetary systems, InspeCity is poised to make a lasting impact in the space industry.
Inspecity has raised INR 15 million grant from the iDEX platform for the development of micropropulsion systems for cubesats. The company has received a grant of INR 1 million from TIH Foundation at IIT Bombay for technological support to develop an inter-satellite link.
About Inspecity
Founded in mid-2022, InspeCity is building Earth 2.0 in near-earth space. In the near term, the engineers of InspeCity are creating a fleet of Vehicles for life-Extension and Deorbiting Activities (VEDA), equipped with Robotically Inserted Guidance systems (RIG) to cater to satellite-servicing, active debris removal, and satellite-deployment in all orbits. In the long term, the extensive fleet of RIG-equipped VEDAs will be leveraged to build innovative large-scale human habitats in space, free from the tyranny of solar-planetary environments.
About Speciale Invest
Founded in 2017 by Co-founders Vishesh Rajaram and Arjun Rao, Speciale Invest is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in founders building technologies of tomorrow. The firm backs ingenious entrepreneurs that use disruptive technologies to find innovative solutions that make an impact.
The fund’s interests include Enterprise Software Products (emerging from deep tech in Data Infrastructure, Cloud, AI-led SAAS, and Developer tools) and Industrial Hardware Products (emerging from deep tech in Propulsion tech, Robotics, Rocket engines, Battery tech, Micro-electronics, Optical Communication tech).
