The Shakuntala Initiative
Changing What's Visible
Across much of the STEM ecosystem, women remain significantly underrepresented and often face limited access to opportunities and resources. The Shakuntala Initiative addresses this gap by strengthening the presence of women across research, discovery, and learning.
Designed as a sustained movement, it brings together funding, knowledge-sharing, and collective initiatives that support greater participation in the work of science.
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Funding for researchers and structured access to STEM education.
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Open dialogues with women shaping science and technology.
Pixxel’s philosophy on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
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Shared experiences connecting women across the ecosystem.
Science moves forward
when more people get to shape it.
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Built Into
How We Work
Nearly 48% of all leadership roles at Pixxel are held by people who identify as women. Across satellite engineering, payload design, mission operations, and other core teams, they play a central role in developing Pixxel's technology and advancing how we understand the planet.
At Pixxel, we value the work above all else. Teams are built around capability, curiosity, and the ability to solve complex problems, and the diversity of the people doing that work reflects that approach. It is a principle that shapes how we hire, how we collaborate, and how we operate as a company.
The Shakuntala Initiative grows from this foundation, extending the same belief beyond Pixxel and into the wider scientific community.
Some Names Carry History.
Some Signal Beginnings.
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The Mother
of Bharat
In the Mahabharata, Shakuntala was the daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the celestial Menaka. Named after the birds that sheltered her, she was raised in a forest hermitage far from royal courts.
Remembered for her strength, dignity, and insistence on truth, she holds a defining place in the epic. Her son Bharata became the legendary emperor, from whom India derives its Sanskrit name.
At the origin of a nation’s identity.
The Human
Computer
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Born in Bangalore in 1929 with no formal schooling and no institutional backing, Shakuntala Devi became one of the most celebrated mathematical minds in modern history.
In 1980, at Imperial College London, she multiplied two 13-digit numbers in just 28 seconds, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records and the title the world remembers her by: the Human Computer.
Her legacy goes beyond extraordinary mental calculation. For many women who followed, she reshaped perceptions of who holds intellectual authority.
Proof that brilliance knows no boundaries.
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Pixxel's
First Pathfinder
In 2022, Pixxel launched its first demonstration satellite into orbit and named it Shakuntala.
At the time, it was the world’s highest-resolution commercial hyperspectral satellite. Over 619 days, it captured and transmitted some of the most detailed hyperspectral imagery ever recorded.
The mission validated Pixxel’s ability to build and operate hyperspectral satellites that observe the Earth across hundreds of spectral bands and reveal patterns invisible to conventional imaging.
A new era of planetary intelligence.
The Next Phase
Inspired by these legacies, the Shakuntala Initiative turns history into action.
Through sustained research funding, education partnerships, and community efforts, it seeks to create a space for women shaping science and technology.
Fueling Scientific Inquiry
Shakuntala Grants
Access to funding and early exposure remain two of the most persistent barriers in the STEM pipeline. The Shakuntala Grants address both.
In partnership with Escape Velocity Grants, the programme distributes micro-grants to support research led by women working on conservation and climate challenges.
Through a collaboration with the Saare Taare Zameen Par Trust, the initiative also brings hands-on STEM learning to girls at GMPGS Devanahalli Middle School, Karnataka, India.
From classrooms to climate research, the goal is the same: making scientific work more representative of the world it serves.
Building Momentum
The Road Ahead
In the months ahead, the initiative will grow through conversations grounded in real organisational practice and shared efforts that bring greater visibility to the work of women.
Together, these efforts aim to build stronger networks, elevate new voices, and open up a level-playing field for more people to lead us to a better future.
