Drone startup Garuda Aerospace raises $22 million in funding

Drone manufacturer Garuda Aerospace has raised $22 million (Rs 181 crore) in a Series A funding round led by early stage investor SphitiCap.

SphitiCap invested $12 million, while other global investors, angel investors and high net worth individuals putting in $5 million. The company had already secured a $5 million tranche in funding from an infrastructure development company, a group of angel investors from India, UAE and Singapore.

Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder and chief executive officer of Garuda, told BQ Prime that the funding came at a post money valuation of $250 million (Rs 2,065 crore).

The company said it will use the funds to scale up operations. “A part of the funds will be used for research and development, thus accelerating the development of building advanced drone solutions for the armed forces.” The funds will also be deployed towards skilling and training of drone pilots.

Jayaprakash said Garuda is on the path to becoming the first ever drone unicorn startup in India. “Garuda Aerospace aims to sell 25,000 drones in the next 18 months and is looking forward to exporting 10,000 drones to about 100 countries in the next 15 months,” he said.

Speaking to BQ Prime at Davos WEF 2023 in January, Jayaprakash had talked about increasing drone production tenfold to 4,000 to 5,000 drones in the next three to four months. Bloomberg