Transcelestial gets US$2m from Kickstart Ventures, enters Philippines

SINGAPORE-BASED Transcelestial has received US$2 million from Kickstart Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of major Philippine telco Globe Telecom.

With the investment, Transcelestial is entering the Philippine market to increase access to high-speed, reliable Internet.

The startup's product Centauri uses a proprietary wireless laser communication technology to create a wireless distribution network between buildings, traditional cell towers, street-level poles and other physical infrastructure.

Companies typically give up US$50,000 to US$200,000 for every one kilometre of fibre optic cables installed in the ground, whereas Transcelestial's shoebox-sized device allows them to set up a link at a tenth of the cost within 10 minutes, chief executive officer Rohit Jha had told The Business Times.

The startup, which is backed by EDBI and Airbus Ventures, noted that the Philippines is the top country in the world in terms of the number of hours spent on the Internet. However, the average download speed is only 50 per cent of the world average on mobile and 34 per cent of the world average on fixed connections to homes and offices.

"This is a major result of bottlenecks created by difficulty in bringing high-speed Internet backbone to dense population clusters. The sheer number of islands adds to the problem," Transcelestial said.

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The company eventually wants to deliver high-speed Internet through a laser network in space. Its goal is to deliver Internet connectivity at up to 100 gigabits per second, hundreds of times faster than conventional speeds seen today.

Kickstart Ventures' investment in Transcelestial was deployed out of its recently announced US$180 million Ayala Corporation Technology Innovation Venture (Active) Fund.

The fund seeks to invest in Series A to D startups globally and has four investment themes focused on the future of transactions and transfers, work and human capital, resource allocation and availability, and property, homes and community life.

"As more Filipinos become reliant on Internet access for their livelihood and social connections, we're hopeful that Transcelestial will help increase Internet penetration and provide telcos and Internet service providers with an affordable option for 5G deployment," said Minette Navarrete, president of Kickstart Ventures.