GW CONSULTING
GW EVENTS
GW MEDIA
ABOUT US
Login
Logout
My Profile
Subscribe/Trial
Home 2024 April 23

Daily Archives: 04/23/2024

SC Solutions & CERTIS/QIMA to Collaborate for Improved Biomass

By
News Desk
-
0
SC Solutions & CERTIS/QIMA to Collaborate for Improved Biomass

SC Solutions announced a collaboration with CERTIS/QIMA, a globally recognized leader in testing, inspection, certification, and compliance solutions.

The collaboration marks a milestone towards making environmental monitoring and carbon farming more effective and accessible.

Accurately measuring and verifying carbon sequestration is essential for ensuring the effectiveness and credibility of carbon farming projects.

Monitoring biomass over time can be complex and costly, requiring reliable measurement techniques and data collection methods.

SC Solutions is dedicated to leveraging cutting-edge technology for positive impact through its AI-powered earth observation (EO) analytics platform, I-Sat, which provides precision in analyzing carbon-biomass for different types of vegetation.

The collaboration is focused on remote biomass monitoring, a critical element to accurately determining carbon emissions and facilitating emission reduction strategies.

The remote sensing technology will complement CERTIS expertise on agricultural practices and serve as a key component of CERTIS Carbon Certification (CCC+) Program.

The synergy between SC Solutions’ innovative space tech solutions and CERTIS/QIMA’s invaluable industry insights and on-the-ground expertise brings a unique positioning to address pressing environmental challenges in the forest and agrifood space head-on.

“At SC Solutions, we believe in harnessing the power of innovation to drive sustainability. Through integrating our advanced space and EO technology with CERTIS/QIMA’s industry-leading capabilities, we are poised to deliver actionable insights that effect tangible change,” said Ziheng Xiang, Chief Technology Officer of SC Solutions.

“Teaming up with Certis allows us to amplify our impact and offer our clients a comprehensive suite of solutions to navigate the complexities of environmental stewardship.”

“This collaboration underscores our commitment to leveraging technology for positive environmental impact and marks a significant milestone in our mission to address pressing environmental challenges head-on,” said Luis Vaz Freire, Head of Forestry Department at CERTIS.

Through the strategic collaboration, SC Solutions and CERTIS/QIMA are delivering on the future of environmental monitoring and empowering businesses worldwide to embrace sustainability as a core pillar of their operations, paving the way to a greener, more sustainable future.

Siemens and Mercedes-Benz use Digital Energy Twin for Sustainable Factory Planning

By
News Desk
-
0
Siemens and Mercedes-Benz use Digital Energy Twin for Sustainable Factory Planning

Siemens and Mercedes-Benz have collaboratively developed a Digital Energy Twin to facilitate the future of sustainable factory planning in the automotive industry.

Designed to support the ambition to run all fully owned production sites of the automaker worldwide on 100 per cent renewable energies by 2039, the innovative Digital Energy Twin enhances, simplifies and speeds the early phase factory energy planning process for both brownfield and greenfield sites, reducing planning time significantly.

The collaboration combines the decarbonization and energy twin domain know-how of Siemens with the deep automotive knowledge of our renowned partner, to create a scalable tool for the automotive environment.

Siemens will provide training and support, and maintain and continuously develop the Digital Energy Twin, as it is positioned for broad implementation across the Mercedes-Benz global production network.

Based on behavioural models of buildings, technical equipment and energy generation, the Digital Energy Twin which was designed and tested in the Mercedes-Benz plant Sindelfingen, Germany, at the ‘Factory 56’, connects inputs such as weather data, load profile simulation, building asset selection and dimensioning.

Simulating a physical energy system, it verifies proposed planning scenarios for energy usage, providing recommendations on how to optimize desired outcomes including energy efficiency and associated cost savings, as well as emission reduction.

“By accurately modelling operational and energy usage scenarios, the Digital Energy Twin enables faster and more transparent decision-making in the early planning phases,” said Matthias Rebellius, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Smart Infrastructure. “This demonstrates how at Siemens we are combining the real and digital worlds to drive scalable, sustainable progress in industries, and represents an exciting first step towards an integrated process for optimized planning, building operation, and production.”

The co-created Digital Energy Twin demonstrates the potential of Siemens Xcelerator, an open digital business platform that accelerates digital transformation, enabling customers and partners to jointly develop tailored products and solutions for various industries. Siemens and Mercedes Benz established a strategic partnership in 2021 for sustainable automotive production, enabling cooperation on advancing the digitalization of sustainable production methods.

“The Digital Energy Twin is our answer to successfully visualize, analyze and sustainably optimize energy-efficient building processes. Through this innovative approach, we benefit from a better understanding of existing factory buildings and transform them into living smart buildings. Thanks to this transformative technology, we are maximizing their potential and setting forward-looking standards for energy-efficient and sustainable building use in Mercedes-Benz’s global production network” said Arno van der Merwe, Vice President Production Planning Mercedes Benz Cars.

Digital energy twins are a key part of Siemens’ portfolio for supporting industrial customers in achieving their sustainability and decarbonization goals.

Siemens recently announced that it was working with another strong international partner for its global Net Zero Production roadmap, using a digital energy twin to simulate energy use and identify where energy savings could be made at 15 breweries worldwide. Siemens estimates that energy savings of between 15-20 percent are achievable at each site, with an average CO₂ reduction of 50 percent per site.

Draganfly, Doodle Labs, and UXV to Enhance UAV Communication

By
News Desk
-
0
Draganfly, Doodle Labs, and UXV to Enhance UAV Communication

Draganfly announces a collaboration with communication experts Doodle Labs, and control systems specialists UXV Technologies.

This collaborative effort is set to redefine operational capabilities for law enforcement, first responders, and military specialists.

The collaboration combines Draganfly’s Commander 3XL UAV, Doodle Labs’ Helix Mesh Rider Radio, and UXV Technologies Soldier Robotic Controller (SRoC) ground control station (GCS), together offering a secure, robust, and ruggedized solution for demanding missions.

Integrating these advanced technologies delivers an adaptable platform that can withstand the diverse rigors of operational requirements in a variety of environments, including over the horizon & urban scenarios.

Draganfly’s Commander 3XL UAV paired with Doodle Labs’ Helix Mesh Rider and Sense technology, actively monitors in-band interference and automatically adjusts frequency channel or band for dynamic interference-avoidance and anti-jamming capabilities.

Completing the trio, UXV Technologies SRoC rugged handheld controller presents a durable and intuitive control interface, making it an ideal choice for field operations where reliability and ease of use are paramount.

This integration underscores a shared commitment to innovation, enhancing the capabilities of UAV operations across critical sectors. The seamless integration of these three technologies provides a holistic solution that ensures operational success in challenging environments.

“Incorporating technologies from Doodle Labs and UXV Technologies provides a robust solution for many specific customers, especially for law enforcement, first responders, and military applications,” said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly.

“With an integration of Doodle Labs’ Helix Mesh Rider Radio and Sense technology, along with UXV’s SRoC GCS into the Draganfly Commander 3XL, we’re enhancing operational efficiency, security, and adaptability, ensuring our drones meet critical demands of complex environments with reliable communication and control.”

“The synergy of Draganfly’s advanced UAVs, UXV’s ruggedized control systems, and our state-of-the-art networking technology marks a pivotal moment for the UAV industry. Together, we are helping set a new benchmark for operational excellence, ensuring that our clients have access to a platform that is not only technologically advanced but also reliable, secure, and ready to meet the demands of tomorrow. It’s a privilege to be part of a collaboration committed to innovation and serving those who rely on us for their most critical mission,” remarked Amol Parikh, Co-CEO of Doodle Labs.

“The Helix Mesh Rider Radio represents our commitment to superior communication technology, ensuring that robust and secure datalinks support every mission.”

“In this era of rapid technological advancement, we must collaborate with partners equally committed to innovation and excellence. This partnership with Draganfly and Doodle Labs represents a significant step forward in our mission to deliver unrivaled control systems for UAV operations,” said Steven Friberg, CEO of UXV Technologies.

“The integration of our SRoC GCS with Draganfly’s aerial capabilities and Doodle Labs’ communication technology creates a solution that is not just robust but also highly adaptable to the critical needs of our clients in law enforcement, first response, and military sectors. We are proud to be part of a collaboration that sets new standards for security, efficiency, and reliability in UAV operations.”

As Draganfly, Doodle Labs, and UXV Technologies progress with their collaboration, their joint efforts will remain centered on developing and enhancing UAV technologies.

This collaboration aims to improve the operational efficiency and safety of existing UAV applications while exploring potential avenues for innovation and progress within the industry.

INSPIRE Revisions are Opportunity to Improve Geospatial Governance: EuroGeographics

By
News Desk
-
0
INSPIRE Revisions are Opportunity to Improve Geospatial Governance: EuroGeographics

GreenData4All’s plans to update rules for environmental spatial data are an opportunity to better govern and access geospatial information within the European Union (EU), says EuroGeographics.

The not-for-profit association for Europe’s National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities (NMCAs) welcomed modernization of INSPIRE Directive rules but warned that removing location data from its scope risks having little or no governance in the geospatial sector. It added that the GreenData4All initiative should include a separate chapter for geospatial data and its role in the Green Deal data space, noting that inclusion of NMCAs is vital for overcoming shortcomings in existing governance.

Marjana Zelic, Senior Research and Policy Officer, EuroGeographics said: “Revision of the INSPIRE Directive represents an important milestone for EuroGeographics’ members, many of whom have invested significant resources in its implementation to ensure their data is discoverable, accessible and interoperable. Whilst we support any action to simplify the technical provisions, such as data harmonisation and network services, previous investments must be protected and solutions identified to finance new ones.”

“Information about location is a critical component for environmental monitoring and reporting providing an accurate continuous observation of the territory, which is necessary for the Green Deal. While INSPIRE is rigid, it provides a clear framework for managing geospatial data and at least half of the 34 cross-sectoral categories within its existing thematic scope are from the geospatial sector. Indeed, the Implementing Act on High-Value Datasets (HVD) refers to the INSPIRE rules to make listed geospatial data available and accessible for reuse, and as the official national providers of map, cadastral and land registration information, our members appreciate this level of coherence.”

“Without defining which other sectoral tools would cover non-environmental data if it is removed from the scope of INSPIRE, there is a risk of having little or no governance in the geospatial sector. Currently there is no dependable policy framework or ‘home’ for geospatial within the EU, with the management of the sector fragmented across various directives including Open Data and PSI Reuse and the Implementing Act on HVD, as well as INSPIRE.”

“As a continuation of 15 years of investment in the implementation of INSPIRE, EuroGeographics’ members are keen to make their data available for the future Green Deal data space which they consider a priority. This is therefore an opportunity to develop an appropriate solution to better govern both geospatial data and the geospatial knowledge infrastructure. These support not only Green Deal priority actions on climate change, circular economy, zero pollution, biodiversity, and deforestation, but every single data space in the European Strategy for Data.”

DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook Gives Insights into China’s Energy Landscape

By
News Desk
-
0
DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook Gives Insights into China’s Energy Landscape

The most comprehensive English-language report on China’s energy transition lays out the enormity of its green energy shift, but also the persistence of fossil fuels in its energy mix.

According to DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook China, the country is establishing itself as a green energy leader with an unrivalled build out of renewable energy and export of renewable technology.  On the other hand, DNV forecasts fossil fuels will still account for 40% of its energy mix in 2050.

Energy independence is a key motivation for Chinese energy policy, but it will be only partly achieved. The power sector is decarbonizing quickly by replacing coal with domestically sourced renewable energy, and domestically produced coal will largely be sufficient for the remaining coal demand segments by 2050.

However, oil and gas usage will continue to rely on imports. Although oil consumption halves by 2050 from its 2027 peak, its use in petrochemicals and heavy transport (aviation and shipping) will linger and 84% of oil use will be met through imports. Natural gas consumption will remain high with 2050 consumption marginally below 2023 levels and 58% being imported. 

Strong policy support is reflected by the rapid uptake of green technologies. China, already a leader in renewable energy investments, will more than quintuple renewable energy installations by 2050. 

In 2010, wind made up only 1% of China’s electricity generation. However, policy has turbocharged the sector and today wind is China’s largest source of electricity after coal and hydropower, delivering 9.4% of the total electricity supply in 2023. By midcentury it will comfortably be the world’s largest wind market.   

Likewise, solar made up less than 1% of power generation in 2015 and in less than a decade this has risen to 5% today.  Solar and wind will each contribute 38% of electricity production by 2050. 

“Intense policy focus and technological innovation is transforming China into a green energy powerhouse” said Remi Eriksen, Group President and CEO of DNV.

“There is much to admire about China’s energy transition. There are visible signs of a vast decarbonization effort and clean technology development within renewable energy, storage, and transmission technologies.”

However, there is potential for China to push further its transition to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels further and faster — and to bring China closer to net-zero emissions by 2050. 

China’s energy use will peak by 2030 and reduce by 20% by 2050, driven by electrification and energy-efficiency improvements.  This decline is also enabled by demographic shifts, including a projected 100 million population decrease. 

From a position where, in 2023, China was responsible for a third of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions, by 2050 that share will have reduced to a fifth.

In absolute terms, China’s emissions will reduce by 70%, following a path close to meeting its target of carbon neutrality by 2060. 

Hitachi Vantara Unveils Inaugural Sustainability Report

By
News Desk
-
0
Hitachi Vantara Unveils Inaugural Sustainability Report

Hitachi Vantara announced its inaugural Sustainability Report, showcasing the company’s commitment to making sustainability a key foundation of its market-leading data infrastructure portfolio and demonstrating its ongoing dedication to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.

The report outlines the company’s past and present initiatives, as well as, the steps it is taking towards future sustainability innovation and operational excellence, underscoring Hitachi Vantara’s commitment to driving positive change.

In line with emerging and global ESG trends, the Sustainability Report encompasses Hitachi Vantara’s sustainability efforts, covering initiatives undertaken before the reorganization in fiscal year 2023 and providing insights into current practices and objectives.

The report also reflects the collective effort of Hitachi Vantara’s global workforce, emphasizing collaboration and cross-functionality in advancing sustainable business practices, and aligns with internationally recognized accounting standards and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Importantly, the report highlights the sustainability innovation, including CO2 reduction technology, that has been built into Hitachi Vantara’s storage infrastructure portfolio for years.

The company has also set ambitious time-bound goals to enhance its ESG performance, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to sustainability leadership. These goals include:

  • Working towards a decarbonized society through reduced greenhouse gas emissions by becoming Carbon Neutral in Scope 1 (direct emissions) and 2 (indirect emissions) by FY2030.
  • Achieving a 30% ratio of female people leaders by FY2030 to increase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at leadership levels.
  • Maturing the company’s Cybersecurity Framework, Controls, and Assurance Management by FY2025 to strengthen security practices and the protection of customer information.

Sheila Rohra, CEO of Hitachi Vantara, emphasized, “We’re expanding our decarbonization efforts across our global operations and supply chain, as well as using intelligent data lifecycle management to optimize sustainable outcomes for our customers. Our inaugural Sustainability Report provides insight into these initiatives, highlighting the company’s unwavering dedication to being a responsible and socially innovative business.”

Key highlights from the report include:

  • Circular Economy and Product Lifecycle Enhancement: Hitachi Vantara is committed to sustainable product design, end-of-life management, and minimizing waste, aligning with circular economy principles. Its Virtual Storage Platform One data platform products are ENERGY STAR certified, with the company’s unique automated switching process reducing power consumption and contributing to lowering CO2 emissions by 30-40% from model to model. This certification signifies a commitment to environmental responsibility alongside substantial energy savings for consumers and businesses.
  • Carbon Emissions Management: The company both generates and mitigates energy across our global sites. Its state-of-the-art Netherlands distribution center’s on-site solar panels produce roughly one-third of its annual electricity consumption, with the remainder derived renewably from verified Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs).
  • Social Impact: Hitachi Vantara is committed to driving positive social impact globally. Its Global Learning team partnered with Mmakgabo Senior Secondary school in South Africa to lessen the digital divide and support students with ambitions to attend college, while in India, the team has been supporting The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a nonprofit organization striving to eliminate classroom hunger.

Hitachi Vantara has already been working with customers around the world to help them improve the efficiency and sustainability of their products, services, and operations.

For example, the company delivered a seamless storage migration for BMW Group, which led to a 70% smaller footprint and requires 80% less power, making it much more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

Gijima, a South African Information and Communications Technology company, deployed Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform systems to consolidate their physical infrastructure, which led to a 66% reduction in power consumption and reduction in CO2 emissions.

Türk Telekom, a Turkish information and communications technology company, implemented a new data architecture that is more environmentally sustainable, reducing their total footprint from 23 cabinets to 9 and decreasing power and cooling requirements by approximately 60%.

Mehmet Fatih Bekin, data center and cloud services director at Türk Telekom, said, “We need to be sure that our storage systems won’t start causing bottlenecks that could impact performance and reliability for our end-users. And just as importantly, the energy efficiency of our new VSP arrays is not just better for the environment, it also reduces our operational expenditure.”

Open Data Access for Greater Social Inclusion

By
Nagaraja Rao Harshadeep
-
0
Open Data Access for Greater Social Inclusion

Big breakthroughs are coming in data management and processing, making it more accessible. This is also leading to packaging with new kinds of systems to gain actionable insights from development. AI/ML has a major role to play.

World Bank has new mechanisms for geospatial AI. We are trying spatial chatbots to see how we can make these systems easily accessible to everyone, including the poorest around the world.

It’s now no longer just about poverty, but also about alleviating poverty and make the planet livable, by dealing with issues of pollution, biodiversity, climate mitigation, adaptation, and a whole range of these global issues.

Data for All

National Geospatial Agencies should focus on making open data systems easily accessible.

The role of the government is to contribute to public data infrastructure in a consistent and interoperable manner, so that the data can be used for making models based on Earth observation data to get better insights, accurate forecast, and development of early warning systems or digital Monitoring Reporting and Evaluation (MRE) systems.

The cloud era has transformed data access as well as analytics. Today, transitioning from data sets to data services has been a new revolution. Earlier, modeling used to be done with the help of computers that only a handful of people could operate, but now with Cloud, we can leverage the power of data through faster cloud analytics.

This is where governments can play a really big role to both encourage entrepreneurial ecosystem.

There’s also a need to focus on inequality and ensure that applications are made for all, because a lot of the services get leveraged by people who can afford it, and a lot of applications get developed for the richer sections of society.

“Today, GIS entrepreneurs anywhere can dream of starting up a global analytics or insights organization because they have the power of the world’s data and analytics at their fingertips.”

Interactive Visualization

New ways of data visualization, which is mainly interactive data visualization, new kinds of e-packaging, dashboards, interactive charts, maps, graphs, schematic in different ways are the core of the transformation that’s starting to happen to help people interact.

A lot of the data visualization has now spilled over into a lot of the aspects of AR/VR, especially in the metaverse, to visualize data and interact with them in new ways.

Today Digital Twin concepts are applied mainly for really big projects, but there should be a Digital Twin of even a small community-driven development project.

We are trying to see if we can help make this a standard approach to make Digital Twins basically of every investment that we make so that it can be used not only for planning, but also to monitor, share, and access information.

Bentley Systems Organizes Innovation Day at Ahmedabad, Gujarat

By
News Desk
-
0
Bentley Systems Organizes Innovation Day at Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Bentley Systems the infrastructure engineering software company, organized an exclusive Innovation Day today at ITC Narmada, Ahmedabad. The event showcased the power of digital twins and digital delivery in transforming infrastructure projects across various industries.  

Bentley hosted the day in the presence of important government bodies, design consultants, construction contractors, and project management consultants, who explored Bentley’s industry-leading software solutions for the transportation, construction, energy, and water sectors. 

Kamalakannan Thiruvadi, Regional Executive, South Asia, Bentley Systems, shed light on Bentley’s contributions to the Indian infrastructure sector, sharing success stories and showcasing projects from Gujarat.

Commenting on the event, Thiruvadi said, “Bentley is committed to reshaping the future of infrastructure through innovative software solutions. Digital delivery and twins are revolutionising how infrastructure projects are envisioned, constructed, and operated. We are grateful to all the attendees who joined us for the event.

Bentley is spearheading this revolution, encouraging organizations to benefit from open and integrated applications, combined with digital twin technology, to boost efficiency, reliability, and affordability across the asset lifecycle. 

“We are thrilled to announce a significant step forward in our commitment to academic excellence and industry relevance through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya and Bentley Systems. This strategic partnership marks a cornerstone in academic-industry collaboration, designed to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application in the dynamic field of transportation and logistics infrastructure.” 

The session on transportation highlighted the potential of digital twins in enhancing operational efficiency and driving innovation.

Chirag Joshi, Senior Manager, Design and Engineering, Adani Road Transport Ltd, showcased how using Bentley solutions at Adani enhanced project execution and operational efficiency while improving safety and innovation for the transportation business. 

The energy session showcased the role of driving innovation and collaboration for large-scale energy production towards a net-zero future. The event concluded with the water session, elucidating a scalable and flexible water infrastructure digital twin solution. 

During the session “Women in Engineering,” Gunjan Thanki, BIM Expert, Systra India, shared how women in engineering are playing a pivotal role towards building a sustainable tomorrow. 

A special recognition award was hosted to acknowledge the contribution of previous years’ Going Digital Awards. Some of the recipients included Aarti Industries, Larsen & Toubro, MaRS Planning & Engineering Services, Tata Consulting Engineers, Zamil Steel Buildings, and Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses. 

This event showcased Bentley’s commitment to celebrating excellence and innovation in infrastructure projects. It conveyed Bentley’s digital twin vision for India, addressing challenges and opportunities in the ongoing and future infrastructure projects across the country.

New Space for Resilient Supply Chains

By
Dr. Maureen Haverty
-
0
New Space for Resilient Supply Chains

We are seeing more and more Edge Computing and AI applications in the space technology sector, leading to faster data transfers, tailored insights, and a much more efficient workflow for customers.

Soon, AI models will witness convergence with geospatial data to provide more insights to customers, probably in fully packaged products rather than just delivering geospatial data to customers.

New Era

NewSpace is augmenting a more robust and resilient world economy, but we are just scratching the surface. However, there is a particular role of NewSpace in supply chain resilience. Space enables local insights with a global view simultaneously, a unique prospect only available through satellites in orbit. We are seeing more and more Fortune 500 companies using space to maintain and observe their supply chains.

Prime concerns for companies that use space-enabled monitoring generally focuses on price fluctuations through changes in crop yields, and deforestation caused through inefficient logistics or precise inspection of farms to understand discrepancies.

Governments are the most sophisticated users of space data right now. Countries around the world can become the de-facto first customers for NewSpace startups, enabling a comprehensive and innovative geospatial and space ecosystem.

“Space enables local insights with a global view at the same time, a unique prospect that is only available through satellites in orbit. We are seeing more and more Fortune 500 companies using space to maintain and observe their supply chains.”

State Contracts

Governments tend to allocate their funding for startups as grants rather than contracts, mistaking the belief that grants are as good as or even better than contracts. This is absolutely not the case.

Contracts translate to solid revenue, which increases a company’s valuation and allows them raise venture capital or other forms of capital. This phenomena happens as contracts and revenue prove demand for your product, which grants tend not to.

Perhaps, more importantly, the act of delivering on a contract is much healthier for any company as it forces them to supply products or services on time tailored to customer specifications. Grants, on the other hand tend to come with many reporting requirements which contracts do not.

Geopolitical Dilemma

There is a worldview that space is becoming the next theatre of war. This is a concern for the global space sector as the domain definitely plays a huge role in defence application worldwide, making countries eager to stay ahead of adversaries.

However, more and more countries see the benefit in terms of capability and coalition building by actively working with allies to improve the applications and use-cases of space. This can be as simple as being willing to procure from allies.

Dhruva Space Announces INR 123 Crores in Series A round

By
News Desk
-
0
Dhruva Space Announces INR 123 Crores in Series A round

Dhruva Space, a full-stack Space Engineering solutions provider based in Hyderabad, India, announces the successful closure of their Series A funding at INR 123 Crores. The funding will go towards the company’s upcoming spacecraft manufacturing facility, strategic business acquisition plans, and enhancing product offerings to deploy them to the global market.

Dhruva Space’s Series A round saw significant participation from Indian Angel Network Alpha Fund and Blue Ashva Capital, as well as Silverneedle Ventures, BIG Global Investment JSC (BITEXCO Group) IvyCap Ventures, Mumbai Angels, and Blume Founders Fund.

Dhruva Space’s Series A1 brought in INR 45.51 Crores while Series A2 brought in INR 78 Crores. Series A2 includes an INR 10 Crores venture debt from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and an INR 14 Crores venture debt from Technology Development Board.

Dhruva Space has launched 8 payloads in the last 24 months, including the Thybolt satellites mission in November 2022 and the LEAP-TD mission on 01 January 2024. Building on this, the coming years will see several customer launches with the company’s P-30 nanosatellite platform and P-90 microsatellite platform.

This highlights Dhruva Space’s extensive business engagements worldwide, including collaborations with CNES, Kinéis, Comat, Swedish Space Corporation, an Australian company for the LEAP-1, and various satellite imagery providers globally.

With this new financing, Dhruva Space is well-positioned to fund ongoing business operations and commercialisation efforts as the company kicks off development of the first phase – around 120,000 square feet – of the 280,000 square-foot spacecraft manufacturing facility, strategically located in Shamshabad, Telangana.

Sanjay Nekkanti, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Dhruva Space, comments, “This funding round is a testament to the international recognition of Dhruva Space’s capabilities and long-term impact. Our vision has always been to provide cohesive full-stack technology solutions to customers to go to Space frequently and securely, at a competitive price point.

With the increasing demand for satellites and satellite-enabled services globally, the funding will be instrumental in supporting the industrialisation and manufacturing of Dhruva Space’s full-stack products, enabling significant team growth, increased development of capability and infrastructure, and fueling the international expansion of our business.”

Chaitanya Dora, Chief Financial Officer and Co-founder, Dhruva Space, adds, “We have visionary, strong and supportive investors whose trust and confidence in Dhruva Space over the years have extended beyond the monetary well into collaboration.

Since 2019, Dhruva Space has been on a positive trajectory, observing a 300% annual growth in revenue, and this fundraising allows us to accelerate our growth, invest in innovation, and further solidify our position in the global Space market.”

Padmaja Ruparel, Senior Partner IAN Alpha Fund, comments, “We are very excited by the stellar team of Dhruva Space founders: Sanjay Nekkanti, Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Abhay Egoor, and Krishna Teja Penamakuru. They demonstrated their ability to build innovative products for one of the most difficult sectors in the country, in a resilient and capital-efficient way. Their expertise and excitement built our confidence that Dhruva Space will create a place for itself in the global space-tech industry.”

Satya Narayan Bansal, Founder and CEO at Blue Ashva, expressed his admiration for Dhruva Space’s pioneering endeavours. “Start-ups equipped with Space-qualified technologies are indeed rare, and Dhruva Space stands out prominently among them,” Bansal remarked. “Achieving four successful Space missions within two years underscores Dhruva’s remarkable pace and proficiency in execution.”

Highlighting Dhruva Space’s latest achievement, Bansal added, “The recent successful validation of the P-30 nanosatellite aboard the PSLV-C58 further solidifies Dhruva’s position as a premier destination for global players seeking to deploy their subsystems in Space. Dhruva has effectively established itself as the ‘Shopify’ for those aiming to leverage hosted payload services on a global scale and it makes Dhruva an ideal venture for investment.”

Vikram Gupta, Founder & Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures, adds, “We are happy to support Dhruva Space’s innovative journey in reshaping space technology. Their track record, visionary team, and global engagements set them apart, paving the way for transformative advancements in the industry.”

GW Bulletin: Geospatial News of the Day -22nd April

By
Geospatial World
-
0
GW Bulletin: Geospatial News of the Day -22nd April
GW Bulletin: Geospatial News of the Day -22nd April

Today’s news cover, MDA Space Awarded Extended ISS Robotics Contract of $250 million; Indian City Gets Asia’s 1st dedicated Space Domain Awareness Centre; Carahsoft and Arcadus Partner to Bring Digital Twins and 3D; Planet’s Modular, Extensible Smallsat Platform Enables New Missions Including Pelican And Tanager; BlueHalo wins $24 million Air Force contract for research and analysis of satellite vulnerabilities; Vibrint and pureLiFi Launch LiFi Solution for National Security Environments; Orbex raises $20.8 million Series C extension; UAE space tech to forecast heavy rains, floods; help in rescue missions; China launches new remote sensing satellite, Yaogan-42 02; and much more.