Pune's Olee Space is turning laser light into power, data and defence, backed by a Rs 70 crore government photonics programme

Olee Space, also written olee.space, is a Pune deeptech company that builds systems around one idea: a tightly controlled laser beam can carry data, deliver electricity or protect a site, all through open air and without cables or radio spectrum. Its chief executive is James Solomon, an IIT Bombay alumnus, and the company's site describes a production facility in Pune.

In August 2026 the company showed its laser based wireless power transfer platform sending 600 W of optical power across a 400 metre outdoor line of sight link, as reported by Electronics For You and TimesTech. Its in house, patent pending receiver converted light back into electricity at 28 per cent efficiency and is designed to scale to 1.5 kW on the same panel design. Beam shaping optics spread the laser evenly across the receiver to avoid hot spots, a built in cooling loop removes heat, and a tracking system keeps the beam on target when the air shifts. The company says it next plans to go further, up to 1.5 km, followed by pilots with partners in eVTOL aircraft and surveillance drones.

Weeks later the Government of India named Olee Space the development cum production partner (DCPP) for a Rs 70 crore, roughly $7.4 million, Advanced Photonics Development Programme, according to The Times of India, The Hindu BusinessLine and Fortune India. The 24 month programme runs from research and engineering through fabrication, integration, testing and validation to production readiness, with each milestone checked before the next. "We believe the core photonics is far more exciting and to be discovered," Solomon said, adding that the company has already presented 15 applications for a shared photonics architecture.

Power beaming sits alongside two other product lines. Exceptional Technology reports that the company demonstrated a 20 km wireless laser data link at 10 Gbps in January 2026, and it is also building directed energy systems meant to stop hostile drones. The company says it raised $3 million in seed funding in 2025.

Why it matters: optics and lasers sit underneath defence, satellite and telecom systems. A local team that designs its lasers, receivers and beam control in house, and now has a government programme to take them to production, is the kind of capability the programme is meant to build. The test to watch is whether the 1.5 km power link and the drone pilots arrive as the company has planned.