Arctus Aerospace, an aerospace company, has raised $2.6 million in a pre-seed funding round from Version One Ventures, South Park Commons, gradCapital, and notable angels such as Balaji Srinivasan, Srinivas Narayan (CTO, OpenAI B2B Applications), early Ather engineers, and leaders from Bounce Infinity and Boom Supersonic, among others.
Arctus was also part of the Founder Fellowship of South Park Commons earlier this year.
Founded in 2023 by Shreepoorna S Rao, Arctus Aerospace builds high-altitude autonomous platforms for earth observation. Arctus Aerospace is building large unmanned aircraft capable of flying at 45,000 feet for up to 24 hours while carrying a 250-kilogram payload. The aircraft is designed to deliver real-time geospatial intelligence.
Arctus is developing a full-stack manufacturing and engineering setup to support this platform. The platform supports SAR, hyperspectral, optical, EO and IR sensing. Imaging that typically costs $10,000 for 500 square kilometres can be delivered for roughly $500, allowing use across energy, infrastructure, climate, and security sectors.
Arctus currently operates aircraft flying at 10,000+ feet, achieving centimetre-level geospatial accuracy and real-time downstream capability. The company builds its aircraft, manufacturing, and testing operations from its 25,000 sq. ft facility in Bangalore.
Shreepoorna S Rao, Founder and CEO, Arctus Aerospace, said, “Our mission is to eliminate all ground infrastructure required to monitor, inspect, or understand the planet on centimetre level resolution. By flying large unmanned aircraft at high altitudes for long durations, we are building the foundation for true zero-infrastructure Earth intelligence. When executed, will kill satellite-based commercial Earth observation.”
Boris Wertz, Founding Partner, Version One Ventures, said, “Arctus is developing high-altitude aviation capability that can redefine how high-value sensing and Earth observation are delivered. Their engineering depth and vision for zero-infrastructure intelligence make it a new market creation product which can unlock a lot of value for commercial players.”
Aditya Agarwal, General Partner, South Park Commons, said, “Building a company like Arctus takes a rare combination of audacity, fearlessness, creativity and the will to succeed. These are the qualities that we saw in Shree from the early days at SPC and why we are so excited to be his partner in this adventure. We have a real chance here to make a dent in the universe.”
