India’s first AI space tech TakeMe2Space has raised Rs 5.5 crore in pre-seed funding. The funding round was led by Seafund, and had participation from angel investors and Venture Capitalists such as Artha Venture Fund, Blume Ventures, AC Venture, etc.

The startup is planning to invest this fund in its upcoming launch of MOI-TD (My Orbital Infrastructure- Technology Demonstrator), India’s first AI-lab in space. This will demonstrate real-time data processing in orbit, making space research more affordable and accessible.

TakeMe2Space has already completed a mission in collaboration with ISRO’s POEM (PSLV Orbital Experimental module) platform, showcasing a radiation shielding coat.

While talking about the MOI-TD in an interview with Analytics Indian Magazine, Founder and CEO of TakeMe2Space, Raunak Kumar Samantray said that the company is working towards building an indigenous solution for space exploration and is using AI to process data directly in orbit, reducing latency and bandwidth requirements. So far in India, government agencies and top research institutes had dominated the field. “You don’t have to be NASA and ISRO to run an experiment” Ronak explained “You could be in Kerala, Delhi, or even Antarctica and still control a satellite”. By offering students, researchers and businesses, TakeMe2Space wants to level the playing field.

“This funding is a testament to our team’s dedication and the impact we are creating in the space tech industry. With the support of our investors, we are excited to accelerate our growth and the first AI Lab to more customers globally,” Samantray added.

The startup has already acquired 20 customers, including 16 from the GIS and data analytics sector and four educational institutions. TakeMe2Space has also acquired its inaugural research partner, a Malaysian university, and a group of enterprising 9th and 10th graders from an Indian school. The satellite-as-a-service platform has the potential to democratize space research.

TakeMe2Space has already grown its team to 17 team members and built over 15 satellite sensors and subsystems. The current mission focuses on Earth observation, but it has the scope of space-based computing capabilities, which could have a wide range of applications similar to current cloud computing services.