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Business Standard

PierSight gains strategic investors to grow satellite maritime surveillance

Space-tech startup PierSight has secured additional capital through a seed extension round, bringing its total funding to $8 million. The company is developing a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) satellites to deliver continuous, all-weather maritime surveillance. The funding will support the firm's expansion plans and hiring across multiple engineering roles. 'We have the necessary resources in place to reach our upcoming targets,' said Gaurav Seth, co-founder and chief executive officer of PierSight. 'This round was about welcoming partners who bring frontline experience in ocean sustainability and port operations, and can help us build a world-class team.' The new investment comes from the Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) and its venture arm, Seabird Ventures, along with CE-Ventures—the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises. Other investors include Nandan Reddy (co-founder, Swiggy), Natasha Malpani Oswal (investor, Boundless), and Sahil Lavingia (founder, Gumroad). 'It's a strong validation to have CE-Ventures as a backer, given that the parent, Crescent Enterprises, operates the region's largest privately-owned independent port operator through its subsidiary, Gulftainer,' said Vinit Bansal, co-founder and chief technology officer of PierSight. PierSight is working with coast guards, insurers, shipping lines, port operators, and ocean conservation NGOs to tackle maritime challenges. These include monitoring Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), detecting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, tracking oil spills, identifying dark vessels, and preventing marine insurance fraud. 'PierSight's ocean-focused satellite constellation will be highly scalable for conservation outcomes by exposing the 'dark side' of ocean activities like illegal fishing and offshore pollution dumping,' said Matt Mulrennan, head of investments at the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. 'Enforcing ocean regulations and achieving full ocean monitoring by 2030 is an area where conservationists, governments, and big ocean industries are all eager to collaborate.' The company successfully launched its technology demonstration satellite, Varuna, in December 2024 and qualified its payload subsystems to TRL-7. PierSight's first commercial SAR + AIS (VDES-enabled) satellite is in development and scheduled for launch in mid-2026. Its maritime analytics platform, MATSYA, is also under development, with a release expected in Q4 2025. A drone-borne SAR system is currently undergoing flight testing and is slated for commercial availability by Q4 2025. 'PierSight is pioneering a new frontier in satellite-based maritime intelligence with its innovative use of Synthetic Aperture Radar technology,' said Sudarshan Pareek, senior vice-president and head of ventures at CE-Ventures. 'The team is building the next-generation ocean observability stack, solving critical challenges in global shipping, security, and environmental tracking.'