Rohit Jha, 36, is co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial.
Courtesy of Rohit Jha
Rohit Jha calls himself a “big nerd”.
He developed a deep love for computers, space, and eventually science fiction at an early age.
Jha spent much of his childhood and teenage years coding games on second-hand computers, observing the stars through a telescope on the school roof, and reading the works of science fiction author Isaac Asimov.
Today, the 36-year-old is the co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial, a deep space and communications technology startup that aims to develop and deploy cell towers, street poles and, more importantly, Create fiber optic-like communications networks.
Rohit Jha with members of the Transcelestial team.
Courtesy of Rohit Jha
The company has raised about $24 million to date and is backed by the likes of Airbus Ventures, Wavemaker and In-Q-Tel.
For the love of science fiction
Jha grew up in Jamshedpur, a small city that became a major industrial center in India.
In high school, Jha was selected to compete in the highly selective National Physics Olympiad program, which exposed him to more advanced concepts such as general relativity, string theory, and quantum mechanics.
After graduating from high school, he moved to Singapore on a scholarship to attend Nanyang Technological University, where he studied electrical and electronic engineering. Jia said that during that time, he was involved in several major projects, including Singapore’s first space program, as well as the country’s first indigenous project satellite.
Jha’s love of science fiction and space engineering peaked during high school and college.
Repair the Internet Journey
After graduating from university in 2011, Jha entered the banking industry and worked in high-frequency trading at Royal Bank of Canada. While working in a bank, Jia discovered a problem.
“In banking, I finally realized why the Internet sucked,” he said. “As part of my role in electronic trading, what you really focus on is optimizing latency between the world’s trading centers. How fast is it from New York to Chicago, from Chicago to London, and who has the fastest latency? A big deal.
He discovered that much of the world’s Internet comes from vast networks of fiber optic cables laid under the sea that carry data between continents around the world. These undersea cables can cost billions of dollars to lay and often cause bottlenecks and breaks due to ocean activity, he said.
It’s worth noting that because the process of getting internet to people can be costly, the companies tasked with getting connectivity into people’s hands tend to “only invest in those cities where there’s an opportunity for a sufficiently high return on investment,” he said.
“So it really comes down to an economic game, and the incentives are wildly misaligned across the board,” Jia said. While “tier one” cities like San Francisco or New York get priority, markets in less developed or remote villages may not get it. Same access opportunities.
“Unless we are wiped out, the web will never exist…and data will grow forever,” meaning the gap between haves and have-nots will also continue to widen unless there are oceans of ways to deliver the web, he said. changed.
rely on oneself
After working for a few years, Jia realized that banking was not for him.
“I’m lucky because it’s a hand-picked team across the company and some of the best people I’ve ever worked with in my life – very impressive people – but… there were a lot of times where I felt like the entire organization A gear,” he said.
Furthermore, having grown up with a love of science fiction, he said it depicted a “utopia” of sorts – “I’m sure by the time I grow up we’ll have transportation to the moon and Mars.”
“I realize that it’s really frustrating that we continue to live in a world where we’re promised a future that doesn’t come to fruition, and I just don’t want to continue to live in a world like that,” he said.
Jha finally decided to leave after realizing this: “You only have one life, and (I) would rather do things where (I) am on the edge of the unknown.” So in 2015, he quit his job and took a year off Went on a trip and started Transcelestial shortly after.
big goal
In December 2016, Jha met co-founder Mohammad Danesh through a startup accelerator in Singapore called Entrepreneur First, and then founded Transcelestial.
“On the first day, I met Danesh, who was exactly what I needed,” Jia said. “So we went to an[Indian restaurant]had breakfast, we talked about it, we had a second Indian meal, we talked about it, and it became clear that we wanted to start this company together.”
Transcelestial was founded in 2016 by co-founders Rohit Jha and Mohammad Danesh.
Courtesy of Rohit Jha
Jia said that after many discussions, their goal is to create “the largest space telecommunications company that may emerge in the next few decades.” They decided the best way was through lasers.
“Lasers have the ability to transmit data… Lasers have been running through fiber optic cables for decades, powering everything from our homes to our offices to our 5G data centers,” he said. “What we do is … take the laser from inside the fiber optic and run it wirelessly.”
“That means it not only has the speed of fiber, but it has the affordability and the speed of deployment of wireless technology. Not only can we build internet for homes and even villages, but we can dramatically reduce the time it takes by years, months, days and weeks.” .
Transcelestial’s Centauri provides wireless laser communications.
Courtesy of Rohit Jha
In 2024, according to one company, it deployed lasers at the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals through shoebox-sized Centauri devices to provide enhanced network access to T-Mobile users attending the festivals. statement.
In addition to its terrestrial telecommunications business, Transcelestial has its sights set on a bigger target – space.
One company said it aims to develop “a constellation of small satellites in low-Earth orbit that would enable laser networks not just across cities but upwards to connect every continent around the world.” statement.
“What we can do is use lasers to effectively drop fiber optic cables from orbit. So it will use lasers instead of fiber optic cables to go into the city, which will become the backbone of the entire city,” Jia said.
Jha and his team ultimately hope to build the next frontier.
“As humanity expands, we need communications and high-speed connectivity in deep space,” he said. Transcelestial is working to “expand into deep space and build the infrastructure needed for automation and perhaps even human habitation in the coming decades.”
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