Where is India’s deep-tech innovation headed? A possible answer lies in the trajectory of olee.space, which has moved from lab-scale work to live military demonstrations within a short span—underscoring how rapidly private players are entering strategic domains such as directed energy and optical communications.
Founded in 2023 in Pune by James Solomon and Suman Hiremath, the start-up has commercialised two products in the past six months, Solomon told Business Today in an exclusive interaction. These include a laser communication system and a laser-based directed energy weapon. Both were demonstrated at an optics symposium in Prayagraj attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Army commanders.
“We have commercialised both laser communications and laser weapons in the past six months,” Solomon said, adding that the company has generated about $0.5 million in revenue in that period—an unusually rapid scale-up for a deep-tech defence venture.
Olee.space built a laser weapon system with five power tiers from 2 to 50 kilowatts. Sub-3-second engagement time, compatible with any radar network.
The start-up is navigating India’s complex procurement ecosystem by working through larger defence companies rather than directly with the armed forces. “If you depend only on direct orders from the Army, it becomes very difficult to sustain as a deep-tech startup. You have to build viable revenue channels early,” Solomon noted. The current order has been secured via a partnership with an Indian defence firm, which he declined to name.
Initially bootstrapped, the start-up has so far raised about $3 million from investors including IIMA Ventures and Rockstud Capital, with investor interest continuing to build.
The founding story reflects a broader shift in India’s innovation landscape. Solomon, a materials science graduate from IIT Bombay, began working on defence technologies as early as his second year in college through internships, building capabilities long before the company formally took shape.
Today, olee.space has a 25-member, engineering-heavy team. According to Solomon, several team members come with experience from organisations such as BEL and DRDO and are driven largely by the passion to build indigenous technologies. Coming from a modest background, Solomon said he supported himself in the early days by teaching JEE aspirants—an experience that shaped his approach to building the company.
