Born in Aldur, a village in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka, about five hours away from Bengaluru, Awais Ahmed neither had access to the internet nor a smartphone until he was in eighth grade. The result? He ended up spending most of his time reading encyclopedias on space, science and technology — a habit that ultimately laid the foundation for his never-ending pursuit of interstellar marvels and a village-to-metro cities arc.
Cut to the present day, the BITS, Pilani alum is based out of both Bengaluru in India and Los Angeles in the US as he serves his role as the founder and CEO of Pixxel Space Technologies, a private space tech company that ultimately helped land a marvellous first for India by landing on NASA’s radar. As of late 2024, Ahmed’s space data company and spacecraft manufacturer has raised a total of $95 million (close to Rs 900 crores) in funding rounds since its humble inception in 2019.
How Karnataka village boy started Pixxel
Pixxel Space Technologies, which has received investments from high-profile companies like Accenture Ventures, Google, Inventus Capital Partners, Radical Ventures, Lightspeed, was founded in 2019. Awais Ahmed and his college friend, Kshitij Khandelwal, combined their genius and borrowed money from Ahmed’s father to lay the groundwork for what ultimately became one of the world’s leading hyperspectral imaging startups as it continues to deliver significantly more detailed Earth imagery than conventional satellites.
According to Pixxel Space Technologies’ official website, Ahmed started the company during the final year of his undergraduate studies in India. Instead of spending an additional fifth year at college on his dual degree in manufacturing engineering, the Bengaluru-born boy dropped out to focus on the company he ideated and started.
Awais earned hands-on expertise in space and engineering when he started working on Team Anant, a student satellite project backed by India’s premier space agency, ISRO. As the founding member and engineering lead at Hyperloop India, his team became one of the 20 finalists in the SpaceX Hyperloop pod competition.
Started by two BITS Pilani students, Pixxel ultimately became Asia’s only space startup to qualify for the 2019 Techstart Starburst Space Accelerator in Los Angeles. Years down the line, in 2023, TIME named it as one of the 100 best Inventions in the Sustainability category. The following year, it was hailed a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
When Pixxel earned a first with its NASA contract
Bengaluru-based aerospace firm registered its name in the history books in 2024 when it became one of the eight companies to be selected as part of NASA’s $476 million Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract. The contract will continue to run through November 15, 2028.
“Pixxel’s inclusion in this contract solidifies its position as a key player in the space industry, becoming the youngest company in a group that includes some of the most established names globally in Earth Observation,” the US-Indian company stated in a press release at the time.
As part of the contract, the Indian-origin startup will provide NASA and its US government and academic partners with hyperspectral Earth observation data, empowering the administration’s Earth science research and application activities.
“Being selected for this NASA contract is a monumental achievement for Pixxel and further validates that hyperspectral imaging will be integral to the future of space-based Earth observation and enable us to truly build a health monitor for the planet,” said Awais Ahmed, Co-founder and CEO of Pixxel. “We are deeply honoured to support NASA’s Earth Observation initiatives and demonstrate the transformative potential of Pixxel’s hyperspectral technology in addressing critical environmental challenges.”
