Two Transcelestial team members with the Centauri device
Singapore-headquartered last-mile internet connectivity startup Transcelestial Technologies has received US$10 million in a Series A extension round.
Existing investor Airbus Ventures led the round, with participation from Kickstart Ventures, Genesis Alternative Ventures, Wavemaker, Cap Vista, and SEEDS Captial.
In-Q-Tel had also joined in a previous undisclosed round.
The new round brings Transcelestial’s total investment raised to date to US$24 million.
Also Read: ‘Internet penetration won’t be enough to bring everyone online’: Rohit Jha of Transcelestial
The new funding will enable Transcelestial to expand early market access to the US. It will also look to bridge the country’s digital divide via its lasercomms solutions for broadband and will explore collaborations over 12 months with government, enterprise and telecom leaders in select states.
The startup will also look to ramp up growth in Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. In these markets, it will collaborate with top telecom, ISPs and enterprise partners who have already deployed their systems in production, delivering 4G, home and office broadband and campus connectivity.
Besides, Transcelestial will gear up its Singapore-based Terabit Factory, which it launched in October last year. The manufacturing facility can manufacture up to 2,400 CENTAURI devices annually.
Minette Navarrete, President at Kickstart Ventures, said, “Transcelestial envisions a future where access to high-quality connectivity is a fundamental right for all, which perfectly aligns with the ACTIVE Fund’s thesis of ‘The Frictionless Future’, where data moves swiftly, securely, and seamlessly, at scale.”
Founded in December 2016 by Jha and Mohammad Danesh (CTO), Transcelestial has developed CENTAURI, a device to deliver high-speed internet and connectivity via laser beam, eliminating the need for underground cables or radio frequency-based devices. Its technology can connect a few buildings in less than a day and withstand tough weather conditions.
Shortly, Transcelestial aims to develop a constellation of small satellites positioned in Low Earth Orbit, allowing its laser network to beam across cities and upwards to connect continents globally.
Also Read: Transcelestial aims to help telcos roll out 5G rapidly and cost effectively in SEA
In February 2021, Transcelestial expanded in the Philippines by raising a strategic funding of US$2 million from Kickstart Ventures. Previously, it secured a US$9.6 million in Series A, co-led by EDBI and Wavemaker Partners. Before this, in 2018, it bagged US$1.8 million in seed funding.
The firm’s other backers are Entrepreneur First, Partech Ventures, 500 Startups, AirTree Ventures, Tekton Ventures, SGInnovate, SparkLabs Global Ventures, Michael Seibel (CEO of Y-Combinator), and Charles Songhurst (Microsoft’s former Head of Corporate Strategy).
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