Drone startup Garuda Aerospace has raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by venture capital firm SphitiCap. The round also saw participation from other global investors, angel investors, and HNIs.
The company raised $12 million from SphitiCap in the round.
“Garuda Aerospace has built various types of drones… and their developments in the drone sector are one to watch out for,” said Pallav Kumar Singh, Managing Partner, SphitiCap.
“Given the evolving preferences and horizontal expansion with the usage of drones in several sectors, there is a vision of promising growth beneficial for both companies. With this, drones will be playing a major in nearly every sector in the future,” he said.
The funds will be used to scale up and expand operations, said the company in a statement. Part of the funds will be used for R&D and skilling and training of drone pilots and to help create employment by deepening footprint in Tier II and III cities.
As per the statement, Garuda drones will be enhanced with payload capacities, endurance, quality of sensors, and data embedding with more technology solutions. The startup aims to achieve significant dominance in rural areas, which will help manufacture drones that will bring in fast delivery, reduce cost, and improve accessibility.
Garuda Aerospace aims to sell 25,000 drones in the next 18 months and is looking to export 10,000 drones to about 100 countries in the next 15 months.
“After my experience at Davos 2023, it was clear that Garuda Aerospace has the potential to scale globally by manufacturing more Make in India drones and will help India to become the drone hub of the world by 2030,” said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace.
“After Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji flagged off our Drone Yatra by launching 100 Garuda Kisan Drones in 100 villages last year and Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined as a brand ambassador and shareholder, we have seen Garuda focusing on unit economics, profitability, and sustainability.”
Garuda’s drones are employed across sectors such as agriculture, mapping, infrastructure, defence, mining and project inspections, in India and across the world.
Garuda Aerospace has a fleet of 400 drones and a team of over 500 pilots across 26 different cities in India. Founded in 2015 with 5 members, Garuda has now scaled to a 200+ team. Its goal is to become India’s first drone unicorn startup by impacting one billion lives.
