AUM Ventures puts India’s space navigation plans firmly on the map

MUMBAI: India’s space ambitions just found a new bearing. AUM Ventures has announced an investment in Sanyark Space, a deeptech venture building India’s first multi-mission Navigation-Communication (NAV-COM) satellite constellation.

The investment marks the first funding under AUM Ventures’ India Deepspark Deeptech Program, an early-stage initiative launched on August 15, 2025, to back Indian founders developing globally competitive, IP-led deep technologies. The programme’s debut edition, supported by more than 15 incubators including IIT-backed and government-supported ecosystems, drew over 400 applications from founders across the country.

As part of the pre-seed round, AUM Ventures will support Sanyark Space in developing an indigenous, high-precision positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system, integrated with secure satellite-based machine-to-machine and IoT communications. The proposed NAV-COM platform aims to deliver resilient, high-accuracy services for mission-critical and next-generation autonomous applications.

AUM Ventures said India’s increasing reliance on foreign navigation systems poses a long-term strategic risk, especially as precision-dependent sectors face rising threats from signal jamming and spoofing. Aviation, maritime services, logistics, telecom, finance and defence are among the industries affected, making alternative, trusted infrastructure a growing priority.

Sanyark Space was founded by former Indian Space Research Organisation scientists Raghava Kundrapu and Akhileshwar Reddy Peseke. The founders have contributed to several national flagship programmes, including PSLV, GSLV, NavIC, Chandrayaan missions, pad abort tests and reusable launch vehicle development. Post-ISRO, Kundrapu also worked in space technology consulting, while Peseke brings over a decade of experience in GNSS and NavIC systems design.

The startup’s approach combines low-Earth-orbit satellites with NavIC and other global navigation systems to deliver centimetre-level positioning and nanosecond-level timing without relying on costly ground infrastructure such as RTK base stations. This integrated model is designed to be interoperable with existing systems while improving accuracy, availability and security.

With the fresh capital, Sanyark Space plans to accelerate constellation design, payload development and early customer engagements across defence, infrastructure and industrial use cases. The company said it intends to work closely with public and private stakeholders to build a strategically important and commercially scalable NAV-COM infrastructure for India and global markets.

In backing Sanyark Space, AUM Ventures is signalling a clear bet on deeptech as both a commercial opportunity and a matter of national capability putting India’s future navigation firmly back into domestic hands.