Accenture Ventures has made a strategic investment in Pixxel, a provider of earth imaging technology, based in Bangalore with a presence in Los Angeles.
Pixxel is building the hyperspectral imaging satellite constellation in order to offer industry AI-powered insights that discover, solve, and predict climate issues at a fraction of the cost of traditional satellites.
Pixxel’s satellites can capture images at hundreds of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum and reveal key data about the health of planet that is invisible to other satellites. The company’s planned constellation of hyperspectral satellites will reshape how businesses across agriculture, defense, mining, environmental, and other industries make decisions to reduce their environmental impact. The data from Pixxel’s satellites provides 8x more information and 50x better resolution than existing in-market options.
“We continue to take great interest in startups within the space industry, which some have forecasted will reach $1 trillion in revenue by the year 2040, and Pixxel is a particularly exciting company sitting at the intersection of space technology and sustainability,” said Tom Lounibos, managing director, Accenture Ventures.
Pixxel’s first commercial phase satellites are scheduled to be launched in early 2023 along with the commercial sale of its data. With six satellites flown in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) around a 550 km altitude, Pixxel’s hyperspectral constellation will be able to cover any point on the globe every 48 hours. With even more satellites scheduled to launch in late 2023, Pixxel will achieve daily global coverage by early 2024.
Accenture’s investment in Pixxel follows a $25 million Series A funding round the company announced in March 2022 and the launch of their first satellite as part of SpaceX’s April Transporter-4 payload. To date, more than 50 customers have signed pre-launch agreements with Pixxel from industries spanning agriculture, oil and gas, mining, and climate sectors.
