Transcelestial, a start-up based in Singapore, has raised US$9.6 million in Series A funding for its work in free space laser communications.
The funding round was co-led by EDBI, a Singapore Government investment arm, and Wavemaker Partners. The round included participation by new investors Airbus Ventures, Cap Vista, the strategic investment arm of the Defence Science and Technology Agency of Singapore, Partech and Tekton Ventures, with participation from existing investors Entrepreneur First and SEEDS Capital, an investment arm of Enterprise Singapore, and 2 previous angels.
Transcelestial has built a proprietary Wireless Laser Communication (a.k.a Wireless Fibre Optics) technology which combines the speed of fibre optics with the flexibility of radio waves in order to overcome some of these bottlenecks. The company’s CENTAURI network device creates a wireless distribution network between buildings, traditional cell towers, street-level poles and other physical infrastructure. At launch, there are two versions of devices available – 1 Gbps Full Duplex (4G & Enterprise ready) and 10 Gbps Full Duplex (5G-ready). Higher bandwidth capabilities will be unlocked and available for order shortly.
“With the Series A capital raise, we are now working actively to get CENTAURI in the hands of customers globally within the next 12 months. In order to deliver on this global promise, we have set up a manufacturing capability which will scale into the world’s largest for production of CENTAURI class Wireless Fibre Optics devices. This will bring our groundbreaking proprietary technology of real time optical alignment and weather compensation to within a commercial price point,” said Dr. Mohammad Danesh, CTO and Co-Founder of Transcelestial.
Transcelestial is also developing a constellation of small satellites in Low Earth Orbit with the aim of delivering an ultra high speed backbone network connectivity.
“At Airbus Ventures we’ve been particularly impressed to see how Rohit, Danesh, and the Transcelestial team have built crucial connectivity elements that have immediate application in these challenging times, and now have a solid basis to develop these capabilities toward a game-changing leap in connectivity delivered from Low Earth Orbit,” comments Thomas d’Halluin, Airbus Ventures Managing Partner based in Menlo Park California. Adds Dr. Lewis Pinault, Partner for Asia Pacific based in Tokyo, “as our first investment in Singapore we’re pleased to have such a marquee company as Transcelestial to help us widen our presence in the region, and we look forward to opening our new offices in Singapore in close partnership with the outstanding co-investors Transcelestial has attracted.
“Space-based laser communications is the future of Internet connectivity happening right at our doorstep. With the backdrop of burgeoning growth in Southeast Asia, we believe that Transcelestial’s Wireless Laser Communication Technology will disrupt and enable unprecedented connectivity within the region and beyond. More than that, we see Transcelestial playing a key role in putting Singapore Spacetech on the map, and seeding the growth of the regional Spacetech ecosystem as well,” said Chng Zhen Hao, CEO of Cap Vista.
