Awais AHMED

Pixxel • Founder & CEO

Awais Ahmed is the Founder and CEO of Pixxel, a space data company and spacecraft manufacturer building the next generation of Earth intelligence. Starting with the world’s highest-resolution commercial hyperspectral satellites, Pixxel is now expanding its vision toward planetary intelligence, creating a full-stack intelligence and infrastructure layer that can serve as a health monitor for the planet.

Awais conceptualised and founded Pixxel in 2019 while pursuing undergraduate studies at a university in India, to build a global space technology startup that could help bring the benefits of space down to Earth.

Following the successful launch of six commercial hyperspectral satellites, Fireflies, Pixxel is scaling toward a constellation of 18–24 satellites designed for daily global revisit. These satellites deliver high-resolution 5m hyperspectral data across 135+ spectral bands, helping industries detect, monitor, and predict change in agriculture, energy, mining, the environment, and infrastructure. Aurora by Pixxel, the company’s Earth Observation Studio, turns satellite data into usable intelligence through integrated analytics and workflows, making complex imagery more accessible, interpretable, and actionable. Alongside data and software, Pixxel also designs and manufactures advanced small satellites, building end-to-end space systems for various applications.

Awais completed his Master's in Mathematics from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, India. Awais was one of the founding members and engineering lead at Hyperloop India, a national team that was a finalist at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2017 and built India’s first Hyperloop pod prototype. Awais has received numerous awards, such as Forbes 30 Under 30, Fortune 40 Under 40, and MIT Technology Review’s 35 Under 35 Innovators list in the Climate and Energy category. He has raised over $95M for Pixxel from M&G Catalyst, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Aditya Birla Ventures, Google, Lightspeed, Radical Ventures and others. For more information, visit www.pixxel.space or follow Pixxel on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.

Events

77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2026)

5 - 9 October 2026

Antalya, Türkiye

Participation: