MS Dhoni-backed drone startup Garuda Aerospace raises $3 Mn

Drone startup Garuda Aerospace has raised Rs 25 crore (approximately $3 million) in a bridge round led by Venture Catalysts and WeFounderCircle. The funding round witnessed participation from Hems Angels, San Angels, Peaceful Progress Funds, and several angel investors.

Earlier to this round, the firm had raised $22 million in its Series A round led by Venture Capital firm SphitiCap in February this year. 

The proceeds will be primarily used to address the sudden demand for drone solutions, Garuda said in a press release. The company will allocate the funds towards working capital requirements, ensuring the execution of pre-booked orders. 

Garuda Aerospace partnered with IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited) for a drone order of 400 units and a pre-booking of a total of 10,000 drones from 700 dealers across the country. 

Founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Garuda Aerospace is a drone-as-a-service (DaaS) startup that designs, manufactures and customizes drones for various use cases such as deliveries, disaster management and agricultural applications, among others. With over 200 team members, Garuda Aerospace claims to have a fleet of 400 drones and over 500 pilots across 26 cities in India.

It claims to have served over 750 clients including TATA, Godrej, Adani, Reliance,  L&T, Amazon, Wipro, NHAI and Indian startups such as Swiggy, Flipkart, and Delhivery, among others for various projects. 

According to TheKredible, around nine dronetech startups have raised around $63 million till September. The list counts ideaForge, insideFPV, Indrones, and PDRL  among others.

During FY22, Garuda Aerospace’s revenue from operations shot up over 7X to Rs 15.31 crore as compared to Rs 2.13 crore in FY21. It primarily makes revenue from the sale of drones & accessories, surveillance charges and other related services. The company turned profitable in FY22 and recorded Rs 3.63 crore profits against Rs 53 lakh loss in FY21.