# Vishnu Sridhar

> Vishnu Sridhar is the Cofounder and CEO of Matter Intelligence, a deep-tech startup building ultraspectral satellite sensors and geospatial AI to map the planet at molecular resolution. A Queens-raised Indian American engineer, Sridhar spent years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as Cognizant Engineer for the SuperCam instrument aboard the Mars Perseverance rover and as Flight Director for the Opportunity rover before pivoting to commercialize the same sensor physics for Earth. Matter Intelligence emerged from stealth in October 2024 with $12M in seed funding backed by Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, and Mark Cuban, building toward EARTH-1, a satellite that will deliver more than 500x the information density of existing sensors.

- **Role:** Cofounder & CEO at Matter Intelligence
- **Organizations:** Matter Intelligence, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Harvard Business School, Georgia Institute of Technology
- **From:** Queens, New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Master of Engineering (MEng) in Robotics, Harvard University (John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences), MBA, Entrepreneurship; 2022 Goldsmith Fellow, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Cognizant Engineer for SuperCam, the flagship instrument aboard NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, Flight Director for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, Led payload oversight during Perseverance's historic Mars landing in February 2021

## Career timeline

- **Pre-2015** — Grew up in Rego Park, Queens, NY; at age 16 launched a homemade weather balloon to 120,000 ft to capture Earth's surface and atmosphere
- **2015** — Graduated Georgia Tech with B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
- **2015-2022** — Joined NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; served as Flight Director for Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity
- **2018-2021** — Lead Engineer and Cognizant Engineer (CogE) for SuperCam, flagship instrument on Mars 2020 Perseverance rover; led instrument delivery to Mars
- **2021** — Perseverance rover lands on Mars; Sridhar's SuperCam captures the first microphone recording on another planet
- **2021-2022** — Lead engineer for REASON instrument on Europa Clipper deep space mission
- **2022** — Named Harvard Business School Goldsmith Fellow (prestigious fellowship for social and environmental entrepreneurs); earned MEng in Robotics and MBA
- **2023** — Co-founded Matter Intelligence with Thomas Chrien and Nathan Stein
- **2024-10** — Matter Intelligence emerged from stealth with $12M seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Toyota Ventures, Pear, Mark Cuban, E2MC, Snowpoint Ventures, and Franklin Templeton

## Achievements

- Cognizant Engineer for SuperCam, the flagship instrument aboard NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover
- Flight Director for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity
- Led payload oversight during Perseverance's historic Mars landing in February 2021
- Key contributor to capturing the first audio recording on another planet (Mars)
- Lead engineer for REASON instrument on NASA's Europa Clipper mission
- 2022 Harvard Business School Goldsmith Fellow
- Received multiple NASA awards: 2016 MER Discovery Award, 2018 MER Award, 2019 MER Award, 2020 Mars Project Award
- Raised $12M seed round for Matter Intelligence from top-tier investors including Lowercarbon Capital and Mark Cuban
- At age 16, self-launched a stratospheric balloon to 120,000 feet to record Earth's atmosphere

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Appeared on The Drone Ultimatum Podcast (Episode #26) discussing the future of satellite imaging, commercial vs. government go-to-market strategy, and Earth's digital twin
- **2024-10** — Matter Intelligence emerged from stealth with $12M seed funding led by Lowercarbon Capital; announced EARTH-1 satellite and ultrabroadband hyperspectral sensor platform
- **2022-06** — Named Harvard Business School 2022 Goldsmith Fellow for social and environmental entrepreneurship

## Links

- Website: https://matter.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishnu-sridhar/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/VishnuSridhar

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/vishnu-sridhar
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Last updated: 2026-05-13