Space startup XDLINX raises $7 million in seed funding

Space start-up XDLINX Space Labs on Monday announced the successful completion of a USD seven million seed funding round which would help it build next-generation payloads for defence and commercial missions.

The funding round was led by Ashish Kacholia of Lucky Investments with additional backing from E2MC, Mana Ventures, and a prominent family office.

Rupesh Gandupalli, CEO & Co-Founder of XDLINX Space Labs, said the funding will help the company accelerate the manufacturing of next-generation payloads for defence and commercial missions like E-band communications, Optical and RF intelligence to building space heritage, operationalisation of satellite bus platforms and expand presence in the US and the UK.

Founded in 2022 in Hyderabad, XDLINX Space Labs began with a bold vision to redefine space missions and make innovative satellite technology accessible to a broader range of clients.

The company's first major milestone came with the successful launch of JANUS-1, a software-defined 6U Nanosat to demonstrate multi-tenancy payload capabilities, onboard ISRO's SSLV-D2 rocket in February last year.

“We envision a future where space becomes more accessible by building cost-effective satellites using 75 per cent indigenous subsystems. We look forward to contributing to India's growing role in the global space race,” Gandupalli said.

The company is currently preparing for the launch of Elevation-1, which will feature the world's first miniaturized space-grade E-band payload, on board SpaceX's Transporter-12 mission.

Elevation-1 is the first commercial mission designed to demonstrate E-band communications with digital modulation, and a company owning a defined long-term roadmap of achieving data rates exceeding 10 Gbps.

XDLINX is also developing the 150 kg class satellite hosting Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Multi-Spectral optical sensors together using the XDSAT-M600 platform for its customer scheduled to be launched next year.