growX Ventures Fund secures 17X return on partial exit from space tech startup Pixxel
Pixxel's technology is piloted across agriculture, mining, energy, and environmental monitoring sectors, with commercial rollout expected later this year, following the launch of its initial six-satellite constellation.
growX Ventures Fund on Monday said it made a partial exit from space tech company Pixxel, marking the first liquidity event for its $25 million Fund I.
According to a statement, the exit has generated a 17X multiple on invested capital and a 68% internal rate of return (IRR) over a 5.5-year holding period. It continues to remain significantly invested in Pixxel.
The firm was an early investor in Pixxel, backing the company when India’s space tech ecosystem was still in its formative stages. Since then, Pixxel has raised $95 million through nine funding rounds.
“For an early-stage fund, translating bold, pioneering bets into realised returns is a powerful validation. This partial exit allows us to return capital while continuing to stay meaningfully invested in Pixxel’s long-term growth," said Manu Rikhye, Partner at growX Ventures Fund I and Merak Ventures.
Sheetal Bahl, Partner at growX Ventures Fund and Merak Ventures, stated that when the VC firm invested in Pixxel in 2019, there was no roadmap for building a full-stack space tech company in India.
He added, "But the idea was audacious, and the clarity was unmistakable - from a 2050 vision to the first 50 hires already mapped out. This wasn’t a category you could hedge or pivot out of. We believed in the ambition and the discipline behind it. Watching that conviction translate into real outcomes is deeply meaningful."
Co-founded in 2019 by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, Pixxel is developing a constellation of high-resolution hyperspectral imaging satellites, along with tools to analyse the Earth observation data.
Its technology is piloted across agriculture, mining, energy, and environmental monitoring sectors, with commercial rollout expected later this year, following the launch of its initial six-satellite constellation.
The startup's most recent $24 million Series B extension funding round in December 2024 included participation from global investors such as GIC, Google, Radical Ventures, and Seraphim Capital.
growX Fund I, launched in 2019, invests in early-stage B2B technology startups across deep tech, fintech, SaaS, healthtech, and space tech sectors. The fund holds positions in companies, including Bellatrix Aerospace, Progcap, Zuddl, AdvantageClub.ai, CynLr, Lightspeed Photonics, and 4baseCare.
Edited by Suman Singh