AWS accelerator for 24 Indian space tech startups

Amazon’s cloud computing services subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced a 14-week Space Accelerator programme to support Indian space tech startups.

AWS has shortlisted 24 Indian firms including a launch vehicle and sustainable satellite startup from Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, an advanced geospatial analysis startup from Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and a satellite technology-based precision farming startup from Ahmedabad, Gujarat to participate in the first-ever space accelerator programme in India, the company states.

The programme aimed at providing dedicated technical expertise, specialised AWS training, and mentoring from space domain and technical experts, is a direct result of the Memorandum of Understanding AWS had signed with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) last year.

The shortlisted startups are Advick Agventure (Ahmedabad, Gujarat), AERO2ASTRO (Chennai, Tamil Nadu), Aeroin SpaceTech Pvt. Ltd. (Chennai, Tamil Nadu), Agnihotri Aerospace (Mangaluru, Karnataka), AkashaLabdhi Pvt. Ltd. (Roorkee, Uttarakhand), Brahmaandco Spacetech (Mumbai, Maharashtra), Blurgs AI (Bengaluru, Karnataka), CoralComp Pvt. Ltd. (Hyderabad, Telangana), Cosmicport (Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu), Cosmo Crawler (Chennai, Tamil Nadu), Expanse Cosmos (Delhi), GISKernel Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Pune, Maharashtra), Inbound Aerospace (Chennai, Tamil Nadu), Insight360.ai (Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands) KosmosOne (Suryatola, Maharashtra) Omspace Rocket and Exploration (Gandhinagar, Gujarat), Onnes Cryogenics Pvt. Ltd. (Hyderabad, Telangana), Pramatra Space (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Satlabs Space Systems (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Sisir Radar (Kolkata, West Bengal), Space Aura (Mumbai, Maharashtra), SpanTrik (Hyderabad, Telangana), Taramandal (Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh), and Thrustworks Dynetics (Pune, Maharashtra).

The shortlisted startups will get the opportunity to explore how best to leverage space data and learn to build secure and scalable solutions using AWS technologies in Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, data analytics, and more. The accelerator will also provide startups with the know-how on go-to-market strategies, fundraising, and business fundamentals, enabling them with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in the competitive space tech landscape.

“This is the fourth consecutive year that AWS has run a Space Accelerator programme, but the first one we’ve tied to one specific country”, Clint Crosier, Director of the Aerospace and Satellite business at AWS says. “We specifically chose to hold this first country-focused space accelerator in India, because we see extraordinary growth opportunities in the Indian space sector. There are a record number of new Indian space startups forming, there is strong support from the Government of India as evidenced by our MoU with ISRO and IN-SPACe, and India has some of the best educated and proficient talent in the world in the technical areas that encompass space. We are pleased to see many talented space startups participate in this exciting programme.”

 The shortlisted startups also stand to receive up to $100,000 cumulatively in AWS credits and support to build and scale their solutions. The accelerator is supported by T-Hub, an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler, and Minfy, an AWS Premier Partner.