PALO ALTO, Calif., April 12, 2022 — Pixxel, an Earth-imaging technology company, received $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Toronto-based Radical Ventures. The funding enables Pixxel to expedite production of what will be the world’s highest-resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation and to offer industry AI-powered insights that discover, solve, and predict climate issues at a fraction of traditional satellite costs, the company said.
Pixxel successfully retrieved its first hyperspectral satellite images from a camera that was launched last year. The photos capture the crop health of a Mexican farmland, showing previously indistinguishable soil nutrient content, early stress identifiers, water-quality levels, and types of flora in the vegetation. Courtesy of Pixxel.
Pixxel is launching the first of its hyperspectral satellites as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-4 mission. These Earth-imaging microsatellites have 50× higher resolution than existing multispectral counterparts and will be able to capture data at global scale.
Traditional satellite images collect data in the visible light spectrum, limiting the end-use cases. Hyperspectral imaging collects data across 40× more wavelengths and can be used for myriad applications such as monitoring methane emissions, quantifying carbon sequestration, and monitoring disease outbreaks across cropland.
“This funding will not only assist us with this goal but will help us improve our software capabilities so that organizations of all sizes can access and understand this data,” Pixxel CEO and co-founder Awais Ahmed said. The company’s technology additionally supports applications in environmental and chemical and gas monitoring.