Indian-Origin Banker Quits Job For Deep Space Startup, Raises Rs 207 Crore

Rohit Jha, a 36-year-old self-proclaimed "huge nerd," is the co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial, a company that has successfully raised $24 million (approximately Rs 207 crore) in funding. Originally hailing from Jharkhand, Mr Jha left a stable banking career in Singapore to pursue his passion for deep space and communications technology by launching his own company.

A native of Jamshedpur, India, Mr Jha pursued electrical and electronic engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore on scholarship after completing high school. He began his career in high-frequency trading at the Royal Bank of Canada in 2011, where he encountered a significant challenge.

"It was in banking that I finally realised why the internet sucked," Jha told CNBC Make It.

Mr Jha explained that companies providing internet connectivity primarily target regions with high returns on investment, prioritizing tier-one cities while neglecting or offering limited access to less developed or remote villages.  

It was also around this time that he realized the banking sector wasn't the right fit for him.

"I was lucky, because it was the hand-picked team in the entire company, and some of the best people I've ever worked with in my life - very impressive people - but ... there were many times that I felt like a cog in the whole organisation," Mr Jha told CNBC Make It. "You have one life, and [I'd] rather work on things where [I'm] sitting at the edge of the unknown."

In 2015, Mr Jha left his job, spent a year travelling, and then founded Transcelestial. The startup aims to improve internet accessibility by creating a laser-based network that connects cell towers, street-level poles, and other infrastructure, offering a fiber-like communication system.  

Transcelestial's ambitions extend beyond Earth as well. The company plans to build a "constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit," enabling its laser network to not only span cities but also connect continents on a global scale, according to a company statement.