Olee Space is building laser communication systems and directed energy weapons for India
The Pune-based company uses infrared laser beams to carry secure data across land, air, sea and space, and has built a laser system for counter-drone and short-range air defence.
Cheap drones have made air defence an expensive problem. An interceptor missile can cost far more than the aircraft it brings down, and a large number of low-cost drones can drain a defending force's stock of them. Directed energy weapons, which fire a high-power laser rather than a projectile, are one of the answers militaries are testing.
was founded in Pune in 2023 by James Solomon and Suman Hiremath. Solomon, the CEO, studied materials science at IIT Bombay and started working on defence technology through internships in his second year. He has said he supported himself in the early days by teaching students preparing for the engineering entrance exams. Hiremath, an engineer, is the co-founder and COO.
The company works in photonics, the engineering of light. Its main line is free-space optical communication (FSOC), which uses low-powered infrared laser beams instead of radio to carry data. Alongside it, Olee Space develops quantum-encrypted communication systems and directed energy weapons (DEW).
From data links to a laser weapon
On the communications side, the company is working towards a satellite network spanning low, medium and geostationary orbits, with optical payloads on board. It describes the security layer as using quantum key distribution to secure encryption keys used for data transmission.
The weapons line is a laser system for counter-drone work and short-range air defence. Olee Space has said it runs across power configurations from 2 kW to 50 kW, engages a target in under three seconds, and integrates with radar as well as electro-optical and infrared sensors. The company also lists anti-satellite among its applications.
Indigenous content is a central part of how the company positions the system. Trade coverage of its announcements puts the India-built share at about 70%, covering beam combining, optical assemblies, gimbal mechanisms and thermal management (the company's own website puts it at 85%). Olee Space says each shot costs less than one US dollar. It compares that with missile interceptors, which it says cost upwards of $150,000 an engagement.
A delivery, and a route to market
In May 2026, Olee Space said it had delivered a production-grade directed energy weapon to the Indian Armed Forces, describing it as an operational unit rather than a prototype or demonstrator. The order came through a partnership with an Indian defence company that Solomon declined to name.
That route is deliberate. Solomon has said the company sells through larger defence firms rather than directly to the armed forces, reasoning that a deep-tech startup cannot sustain itself on direct orders alone and needs multiple revenue channels early.
Olee Space raised about Rs 26 crore, $3 million, in a seed round announced in August 2025 led by Rockstud Capital. IIMA Ventures is also named among its backers. The company said at the time that it would put 80% of the money into hardware and 20% into operating costs.
The team runs to about 25 people and is weighted towards engineering, with members who have worked at Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The company lists collaborations across the free-space optics ecosystem and has said it is in discussions with Indian and allied forces on pilot programmes.
Olee Space has said it will use the funding to scale production and develop its quantum-secure communication protocols further.
(This story has been researched and compiled using publicly available information.)