Ravee Optics, a new startup focused on building compact laser terminals, has raised $6 million in a seed funding round. The startup announced the oversubscribed funding round on Monday, with funding from BIG Capital, JobsOhio Ventures, and CincyTech.
Ravee, based in Dayton, Ohio, has an initial focus is to build optical communication systems to transmit data between satellites on orbit that are smaller, lighter, and easier to manufacture in large volumes. It claims its technology can deliver 10 to 100 times greater throughput than current standards.
The company is founded by CEO Piyush Shah and CTO Augustine Urbas. The team has decades of experience with optical technology, including time with the Air Force Research Lab in Dayton. Ravee plans to use the seed round to support engineering and product development as it works toward testing its technology in space and across satellite networks.
“We are building ultra-compact optical communications terminals to serve the growing demand for on-orbit data transport,” Shah said in a release. “We built our technology to address this challenge at scale with revolutionary optics technology and design for manufacturing to enable wider deployment of optical communications across the future space ecosystem.”
The company was part of the 2026 Startup Space competition during SATShow Week, and graduated from the Seraphim Space accelerator program last year.
