Transcelestial Technologies
Entrepreneur First '17Singapore, SG · Founded 2017 · 56 employees on LinkedIn · 18 known investors
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Transcelestial builds laser communication technology that delivers high-speed internet connectivity using compact wireless optical devices as an alternative to fiber. It targets telecom operators and enterprises needing broadband and network backhaul infrastructure.
Also known as Transcelestial · TRTC
Founders & leadership
Transcelestial Technologies was founded in 2017 by Rohit Jha and Mohammad Danesh.
Board
Investors · 18
Also in the syndicate · 7
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Transcelestial Technologies is a Singapore-based communications company developing wireless laser (free-space optical) communication systems intended as an alternative to fiber and radio-frequency links. Its core product line, CENTAURI, is a compact point-to-point network device — described at 2020 launch as shoebox-sized and under 3 kg — that creates wireless links between buildings, cell towers, street-level poles and other infrastructure. Product variants have included 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps full-duplex units, and the company's site lists CENTAURI+, CENTAURI 10G and CENTAURI 25G; a March 2026 press mention describes a quantum-safe CENTAURI+ terminal supporting 40 Gbps optical wireless links.
Beyond terrestrial links, the company has stated a longer-term objective of building a space laser network using a constellation of nano-satellites in low Earth orbit to relay data for ground, satellite and deep-space applications, targeting point-to-point speeds of up to 100 Gbps. Recent announcements point to activity in this direction, including a space optical network selection by LatConnect 60, an agreement with Antaris covering persistent ISR and optical communications in LEO, and an interoperability partnership with Warpspace for LEO satellite communications.
The company positions CENTAURI against fiber (cited as costly and slow to install, with right-of-way constraints) and RF/microwave (cited as requiring spectrum and consuming roughly 50 W versus 20-32 W for CENTAURI), emphasizing deployment speed, security and the absence of spectrum licensing requirements.
Founding story
Transcelestial was founded by Rohit Jha (CEO) and Dr. Mohammad Danesh (CTO) and emerged from Entrepreneur First, the London- and Singapore-headquartered venture builder. Sources conflict on the founding year: press coverage from 2018 and 2020 and EquityZen state 2016, while Seedtable states 2017. Jha has said the company was started because there was no scalable plan for underlying connectivity infrastructure on Earth or in deep space, citing the capital and maintenance costs of transcontinental undersea cables and spectrum congestion in existing wireless systems; he has also cited his own experience of limited internet access growing up in Jamshedpur, India.
Business model
Transcelestial manufactures and sells CENTAURI hardware terminals that customers deploy to create wireless optical links, positioning the devices as a lower-cost, faster-to-deploy substitute for leased or newly built fiber. A 2020 statement describes the company setting up manufacturing capacity for CENTAURI-class wireless fibre optics devices and putting units into customers' hands globally. Sources do not detail pricing or contract structures.
Sources indicate revenue derives from supply of CENTAURI devices to telecom operators, ISPs, enterprises and institutions, often through in-country partners and resellers. Seedtable publishes a third-party estimated revenue range of $7M-$18M, which is an estimate rather than a company-reported figure.
Traction
Public evidence of traction includes operator trials and deployments (SK Telecom in South Korea; Taiwan Mobile connectivity restoration after Typhoon Ragasa in April 2026), a campus deployment at UC Santa Cruz stated to have replaced a $150K five-year fiber lease and been installed in under a day, a public demonstration site with UTS Tech Lab in Australia, and reseller/partner relationships across Malaysia, UAE, Indonesia, Mongolia and Hong Kong. Space-side traction includes the LatConnect 60 selection and agreements with Antaris and Warpspace. Seedtable reports 57 employees and an estimated revenue range of $7M-$18M as of August 2026.
Latest developments
2026 activity reported in sources includes the March 2026 debut of a quantum-safe CENTAURI+ terminal for 40 Gbps links, a March 2026 collaboration with NTT-AT in Japan on resilient networks using CENTAURI, restoration of connectivity with Taiwan Mobile after Typhoon Ragasa in April 2026, a May 2026 agreement with Antaris on persistent ISR and optical communications in LEO, a July 2026 interoperability partnership with Warpspace for LEO satellite communications, a July 2026 UC Santa Cruz campus deployment, and LatConnect 60's August 2026 selection of Transcelestial's space optical network for AUKUS-aligned imaging intelligence.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Seedtable ranks the company 228th of 691 startups in Singapore and 20th of 48 in the space industry, with a Seedtable score of 44 and a Series A funding stage. Listed known competitors are Analytical Space (Cambridge, US) and Skyloom (Oakland, US). The company frames its market position primarily against fiber deployment costs and RF/microwave spectrum constraints rather than against other optical vendors.
The company's stated differentiators are deployment speed and low installation footprint relative to fiber, absence of spectrum licensing and right-of-way requirements, lower power consumption than RF/microwave (20-32 W versus roughly 50 W), link security, and cost relative to trenching or leasing fiber. It also markets a quantum-safe terminal variant and a roadmap extending the same optical link technology from terrestrial to satellite and deep-space use.
Technology
Wireless laser communication, also described by the company as wireless fibre optics, combining fiber-like throughput with the deployment flexibility of wireless. The technology requires no spectrum allocation or licensing and is described as difficult to jam. The CENTAURI hardware family covers 1 Gbps to 25 Gbps class products, with a quantum-safe CENTAURI+ terminal supporting 40 Gbps reported in 2026, and power draw of 20-32 W. The stated long-term architecture extends the same optical links to nano-satellite constellations for point-to-point networking at up to 100 Gbps. Seedtable records one assigned patent.
Go-to-market
The company combines direct engagement with telecom operators and enterprises with a partner and reseller channel. Website testimonials come from partners and customers including Mavenir, UTS Tech Lab (Australia), Teleplex Solutions (Malaysia), LinkQuest FZCO (UAE), NTT Indonesia Technology, BestComputers (Mongolia), Synetcom and Cyber On-Air (Hong Kong). Early market entry used operator trials and public demonstrations, such as the SK Telecom project under the Telecom Infra Project's Ecosystem Acceleration Center program and a public demonstration site with UTS Tech Lab. The site also lists a partner program, demo bookings and industry-specific solutions.
Telecom and mobile network operators, internet service providers, enterprises, ports and logistics operators, and education/campus environments; the website also lists disaster recovery and telco-grade 99.999% availability use cases. Space customers include satellite operators seeking orbit-to-ground and inter-satellite optical links.
Geography
Headquartered in Singapore, with customer, partner or demonstration activity referenced in South Korea, Australia, Malaysia, the UAE, Indonesia, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and the United States.
History
The company raised S$2.5 million (US$1.8 million) in seed funding in December 2017, disclosed publicly in September 2018, and used the capital to build a laser communication lab in a Chinatown office in Singapore and develop a terrestrial prototype in stealth. One of its first public demonstrations was a joint project with SK Telecom and the Telecom Infra Project that upgraded backbone connectivity at a public library near Seoul. In July 2020 it closed a US$9.6 million Series A co-led by EDBI and Wavemaker Partners and launched CENTAURI commercially; Seedtable records a further US$2.0 million round in February 2021 led by Enterprise Singapore and Kickstart Ventures, bringing recorded total funding to US$15.3 million across five rounds. Early backers also include SGInnovate, SparkLabs Global Ventures and Entrepreneur First.
Risks & controversies
No controversies are reported in the sources. Data risks include inconsistent founding-year reporting (2016 in press coverage and EquityZen versus 2017 in Seedtable and internal records) and reliance on third-party estimates for revenue, employee count and ownership stakes, which Seedtable explicitly labels as modelled estimates rather than filed data. Shares are listed on the EquityZen secondary marketplace, but no valuation or share price is disclosed in the accessible material.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 12
launches, deals, and filingsLatConnect 60 selected Transcelestial's space optical network, with the link designed to move high-volume satellite imagery from orbit into LC60's processing pipeline; described as AUKUS-aligned.
Company announcement states UC Santa Cruz connected a new IT research lab in under a day with a laser link, avoiding a stated $150K five-year fiber lease.
$150K source ↗
Japanese release describing cooperation between Transcelestial and NTT-AT to build high-resilience networks using the CENTAURI wireless laser communication system.
$2M source ↗
Series A financing co-led by EDBI (Singapore Economic Development Board's VC arm) and Wavemaker Partners, with existing investors Entrepreneur First and SEEDS Capital and new investors Airbus Ventures, Cap Vista, Partech Ventures and Tekton Ventures.
$9.6M source ↗
CENTAURI is a shoebox-sized device weighing under 3 kg for point-to-point links between buildings, cell towers and street-level infrastructure; launched in 1 Gbps full-duplex and 10 Gbps full-duplex variants.
Transcelestial publicly announced a seed round raised in December 2017, led by Wavemaker Partners with SEEDS Capital (Enterprise Singapore), joined by AirTree Ventures, 500 Startups and angel investors including Michael Seibel, Jonathan Schiff, Charlie Songhurst and Josh Manchester.
$1.8M source ↗
Joint project with SK Telecom (South Korea) and the Telecom Infra Project Ecosystem Acceleration Center used Transcelestial's wireless fibre optics to upgrade backbone connectivity of a public library near Seoul, reported to improve bandwidth 20-fold.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Transcelestial Technologiestranscelestial.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Transcelestial Technologies do?
- Singapore laser communications company selling CENTAURI wireless optical terminals as a fiber alternative for telcos and enterprises.
- Who founded Transcelestial Technologies?
- Transcelestial Technologies was founded by Rohit Jha, Mohammad Danesh in 2017.
- Who are Transcelestial Technologies's investors?
- Transcelestial Technologies's investors include 500 Global, Beyond Earth Ventures, Capria Ventures, Champion Hill Ventures, Entrepreneur First, In-Q-Tel, Kickstart Ventures, MPower and 3 more.
- Where is Transcelestial Technologies headquartered?
- Transcelestial Technologies is headquartered in Singapore, SG.