A bridge round led by Venture Catalysts and WeFounderCircle has raised Rs 25 crore (roughly $3 million) for drone startup Garuda Aerospace. Hems Angels, San Angels, Peaceful Progress Funds, and a number of angel investors participated in the funding round.
Prior to this round, the company raised $22 million in February of this year during its Series A round, which was led by the venture capital firm SphitiCap.
As stated in a press release by Garuda, the funds will be mainly utilized to meet the unexpected demand for drone solutions. The money will be used by the business to meet its working capital needs and guarantee that orders that have been reserved will be filled.
Along with IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited), Garuda Aerospace pre-booked 10,000 drones from 700 dealers nationwide, placing an order for 400 drones in total.
Drone-as-a-service (DaaS) startup Garuda Aerospace was founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash. It designs, builds, and customizes drones for a range of use cases, including deliveries, disaster relief, and agricultural applications. Garuda Aerospace, which employs more than 200 people, says it has over 500 pilots and 400 drones spread across 26 Indian cities.
It states that it has completed various projects for over 750 clients, including TATA, Godrej, Adani, Reliance, L&T, Amazon, Wipro, NHAI, and Indian startups like Swiggy, Flipkart, and Delhivery.
Garuda Aerospace’s operating revenue increased by over 7X to Rs 15.31 crore in FY22 from Rs 2.13 crore in FY21. The company’s main sources of income are the sales of drones and their accessories, surveillance fees, and other associated services. After posting a loss of Rs 53 lakh in FY21, the company turned a profit in FY22, recording Rs 3.63 crore in profits.
