How Suhora Is Turning Satellite Data into Real-Time Intelligence
On a usual day, most people don’t realise that hundreds of satellites are circling above us, constantly capturing images of the Earth. For governments, intelligence agencies and critical industries, this data can mean the difference between being prepared and being caught off guard. The real challenge is not access to the images, but making sense of them quickly enough to act.
This is the gap Noida-based Suhora is working to close. The deeptech startup, founded by Krishanu Acharya, builds geospatial intelligence systems that convert satellite imagery into actionable insights for defence agencies, disaster authorities and energy companies—often within hours of an event.
“Our customers don’t want raw satellite data. They want intelligence. They want to know what it means. That is where we come in,” Acharya says.
From Remote Sensing Roots to Startup
Acharya was born in West Bengal near Kharagpur and completed his master’s in Remote Sensing and GIS from Vidyasagar University. He worked with a DRDO lab and later spent years at defence and geospatial companies, including Rolta and SkyMap Global. There he met future co-founders Rupesh Kumar (CTO) and Amit Kumar (COO).
“It’s a small industry. We all knew each other’s strengths. That helped us decide to build something together,” Acharya recalls.
The company was registered in May 2018, with formal operations beginning in early 2019 after the three founders left their jobs. Suhora now operates from Noida with a team of around 75 people. Its fourth co-founder, Admiral Vishwanathan Ganpati, an Indian Navy veteran, joined in November to lead system architecture and large-scale solution building.
How the Idea Evolved
In its early days, Suhora focused on agriculture. The team noticed the rise of smaller, cheaper satellites around 2013–15. “We saw miniaturisation happening. When satellites reduced in size, cost came down, access improved, and possibilities opened up,” Acharya says. Their first field project was with the Maharashtra government.
They soon realised that the highest value and demand for accuracy in near real-time intelligence lay in defence applications. Today Suhora offers four products built on the same core technology, covering imaging, defence intelligence, disaster monitoring and energy infrastructure.
The Product Suite
Suhora works with more than 300 satellites, many of which it can task directly. The company follows a B2B and B2G model, generating revenue through SaaS offerings, intelligence delivery and custom deployments.
Its earliest platform, Spade, is a SaaS-based satellite tasking system. Clients can request new images or access archive data through a simple annual subscription starting at $5,000 and scaling to multimillion-dollar contracts. Government departments such as Haryana’s HRSC use it to monitor agriculture, stubble burning and illegal construction.
For defence, Suhora offers Mirka, a B2G-only platform used by the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and intelligence agencies under the Ministry of Home Affairs, including CISF and BSF. Mirka combines computer vision, AI and a library of adversary assets to track changes on land and at sea, identify objects such as tanks or ships, and anticipate possible movements. It is priced at $25,000 a year.
The disaster intelligence platform, SID, supports authorities during floods, landslides and cyclones. After a recent flash flood in Uttarakhand, Suhora delivered a detailed assessment within two hours. “In disasters, the golden hour matters,” Acharya notes. State governments and B2B clients such as insurers use the platform.
The fourth product, Joules, focuses on energy infrastructure and is already deployed with renewable energy companies in the Middle East, including ACWA Power and Masdar. It grew out of earlier work on automated project reports and solar potential assessments.
Technology and Operations
Suhora combines satellite tasking, computer vision, machine learning-based classification and inference systems. “We are an AI-native company. Two things matter: automation and inference. We don’t just detect objects; we tell clients what the objects mean,” Acharya says.
The company ingests hundreds of satellite images daily through global ground stations and AWS pipelines. Higher-level intelligence systems are built fully in-house. Clients include the Indian National Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, several MHA intelligence agencies, Haryana government departments, and B2B customers such as ACWA Power, Masdar and Hyderabad-based Niruthi.
Bootstrapped with an initial investment of Rs 15 lakh from the founders’ savings, Suhora has been cash-positive from its first year. It recorded around Rs 13 crore in revenue in FY24 and grew to Rs 40 crore in FY25. Large defence contracts and high-value satellite tasking form a major part of revenue, with some customers paying $3–4 million annually.
Competition and Market Opportunity
Suhora mainly competes with global deeptech firms, including US-based Venter and Israeli geospatial companies. In India, Acharya describes SATSURE as “a friend and sometimes collaborator.” Challenges include hiring specialised talent, navigating long government procurement cycles and maintaining strict confidentiality.
India’s geospatial analytics market is projected to reach roughly $5–6.5 billion by 2030–2032. Suhora currently holds less than 2% of the market but aims for 15% within five years.
What’s Next for the Company
Over the next 18 to 24 months, Suhora plans to expand its products into more global markets. The team intends to roll out Joules worldwide, strengthen Mirka’s maritime intelligence capabilities across the APAC region, and add edge-computation features for faster last-mile delivery.
The company is also preparing to set up a ground station and is exploring the possibility of launching its own satellites. “It’s in the deployment stage; we will launch soon,” Acharya says.
In a sector where raw data is abundant but timely, actionable insight is scarce, Suhora’s focus on turning satellite imagery into deeptech-driven intelligence continues to find strong demand among defence, disaster and energy users.