Garuda Aerospace’s founder and CEO Agnishwar Jayaprakash told in an interview that the Series A fundraising round valued the company at $250 million.
Garuda Aerospace, a drone startup, said that it has secured $22 million in an early stage fundraising round headed by venture capital firm SphitiCap.
According to Garuda Aerospace’s founder and CEO, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, the Series A fundraising round values the company at $250 million.
SphitiCap put in $12 million for the round. Other investors included Ocgrow Ventures from Canada, Silverstone Capital from the United Kingdom, an unnamed infrastructure development business, high net-worth individuals (HNI), and angel investors, according to Jayaprakash.
In 2021, the firm raised around $1 million in investment.
Garuda Aerospace, which was launched in 2015, manufactures and sells drones (55% of sales) as well as ‘drone-as-a-service’ (45%). In addition to India, it currently conducts business in Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Panama, and the United Arab Emirates, according to Jayaprakash.
He claimed that the company’s revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2023 will be Rs 40 crore, which he hopes to expand to Rs 800-1,000 crore by FY24.
Garuda Aerospace intends to use the additional cash to expand and expand its operations, as well as to expedite the development of advanced drone solutions for the military and aerospace sectors in collaboration with global corporations.
The funds will also be used to train and teach drone pilots, as well as to create jobs by extending its presence in Tier II and III cities. In addition to sales and services in agricultural, defence, and industrial sectors, Garuda Aerospace makes revenue through a new segment of drone pilot training classes.
It claims to have served over 750 clients, including Tata, Godrej, Adani, Reliance, Swiggy, Flipkart, Delhivery, L&T, Survey of India, Lockheed Martin, Cognizant, and Elbit Systems, and it manufactures 30 different types of drones and offers 50 different types of services.
The firm now operates over 400 drones in 84 locations and employs over 500 pilots.
Late-stage and growth-stage technology institutional venture capital investors have mostly ignored drone startups.
These backers, according to the founders, are taking their time examining the business. As a result, entrepreneurs choose strategic investors that give them with go-to-market prospects all over the world.
Another sponsored participant in the sector is Qualcomm Ventures and Infosys-backed ideaForge, which develops and manufactures drones for the Indian Army’s surveillance capabilities, among other use cases and clients. The Mumbai-based company intends to raise roughly Rs 750 crore ($90.89 million) in an IPO, valuing itself at Rs 3,000 crore (approximately $363.55 million).
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