Esper
Esper Satellite Imagery maps critical minerals from orbit, using hyperspectral sensors that split sunlight into hundreds of narrow bands so a satellite reads the chemistry of the ground rather than its color.
- Category
- Deep Tech
- Fund
- NZVC II
- Website
- www.espersatellites.co
- On TechMates
- 2 episodes
What Esper does
Mining and exploration companies use Esper to pick drill targets, assess a tenement and monitor an active operation, and the company has mapped mineralization across the whole of Australia's Northern Territory. Grid Metals is using it to hunt cesium in Manitoba, Tennant Mining to work the Tennant Creek goldfield, and Amex Exploration to extend its Perron gold project in Quebec. Shoaib Iqbal and Przemyslaw Lorenczak started Esper in their second year at Monash University and put four hyperspectral sensors into orbit for under a million dollars, engineering commercial off-the-shelf parts to survive the trip.
The secret
Enough spectral bands stop a satellite being a camera and turn it into a chemical assay. A normal satellite camera reads three bands of light and a multispectral one reads ten or twenty, while Esper's sensors read hundreds, which is what lets mineral exploration that used to need people walking the ground start from orbit.
Why NZVC invested in Esper
We backed Esper because critical mineral supply is now a strategic problem for a long list of governments and industries, and hyperspectral data narrows the search before anyone puts a drill in the ground. The founders got four sensors into orbit for under a million dollars by engineering shop-bought components to survive space, and that cost position is hard to catch from the other direction. They are building toward a constellation of eighteen satellites rather than betting the company on one.
Esper in the press
- Forbes Australia reported Esper building satellites from off-the-shelf partsForbes Australia · 17 November 2025
- Esper raised $5 million to map minerals from orbitMetal Tech News, SmartCompany · 3 March 2025
- TechCrunch covered Esper's plan to build hyperspectral satellites cheaplyTechCrunch · 4 March 2024
Esper on TechMates
The Secret Space Revolution in Australia & New Zealand
You hear three founders quietly building a space sector in Australia and New Zealand on lean budgets. Stefan Powell of Dawn Aerospace explains why most of a rocket can just be an aircraft, Shoaib Iqbal of Esper explains how to build hyperspectral satellite sensors from off-the-shelf parts, and Billy Jeremijenko of Aquila makes the case for moving energy with light instead of cables.
A joint episode, alongside Dawn Aerospace.
Esper on TechMates
Inside the Australian Startup Launching Hyperspectral Satellites
You hear how a teenager winning hackathons in Saudi Arabia ended up launching satellites from Australia. Shoaib Iqbal explains what hyperspectral imaging sees that cameras cannot, and who in mining and agriculture pays for it.
- Hyperspectral imaging technology.
- Lessons from DIY to deep tech.
- Achieving product-market fit.