Largest funding in the Indian drone sector, Garuda Aerospace raises Rs 138 crore
Garuda Aerospace, a drone manufacturer, has bagged Rs 183 crore in a Series A round of funding which was led by early-stage venture capital firm SphitiCap. This round of Series witnessed participation from other global investors, angel investors and HNIs (high net worth individuals). This comes at a time when the government is looking to provide assistance to Indian drone manufacturers to support them in the defence and agriculture sector.
The company plans to invest this funding in their research and development department, by expanding their market, product development and will focus on upskilling of more drone pilot projects in the near future. The company has made a target to sell 25,000 drones in the next coming 18 months. It will further export 10,000 drones to about 100 countries in the next 15 months.
Garuda Aerospace a Chennai based startup, was founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayprakash. Currently, the startup claims to possess a fleet of 400 drones with 500 pilots across 26 cities in India. They have a wide range of clients which include companies like Tata, Godrej, Swiggy, Reliance, Delhivery, NTPC, WIPRO, Intel, Amazon etc. In 2020 the startup raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A funding round which was led by Ocgrow ventures. Garuda Aerospace has MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador. MS Dhoni had also funded the startup; the amount remains undisclosed.
Managing partner of SphitiCap, Pallav Kumar Singh said “Garuda Aerospace has built various types of drones. Given the evolving preferences and horizontal expansion with the usage of drones in several sectors, there is a vision of growth for both companies.” SphitiCap was launched in 2022 September by Sphitigram Ventures founded by Pallav Kumar Singh and Mayank Mehra.
https://twitter.com/garuda_india/status/1625175093981896704?s=20
