Chennai: Garuda Aerospace, India's leading and most valuable drone company backed by former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has successfully raised Rs 25 crores in a fresh bridge round of funding led by Venture Catalysts, India’s first integrated incubator and a leading investor for early-stage and WeFounderCircle.
The funding round witnessed commitments from other notable investors, including Hems Angels, San Angels, Peaceful progress funds, and several prominent angel investors, which collectively capped out the funding round.
Expressing his gratitude for the strong support from investors, Founder CEO, Garuda Aerospace, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, said, "We are thrilled and honoured by the overwhelming support from our investors and the investment community.
"This fresh capital infusion will play a crucial role in accelerating our growth and enhancing our capabilities to meet the escalating market demand. With the continued backing of esteemed investors and the endorsement of MS Dhoni, we are confident in our mission to revolutionise the drone technology sector in India."
"We are excited to lead this Series A extension for Garuda Aerospace, an innovative company that is transforming the drone technology landscape in India. Garuda's strong commitment to delivering cutting-edge drone solutions, combined with their impressive market share in the Precision Agri Drone industry, demonstrates their potential for significant growth.
"We believe that this investment will not only strengthen Garuda's position as a market leader but also revolutionize the way drones are utilized across various sectors, ultimately benefiting India's tech ecosystem and agriculture industry," Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder and Managing Director at Venture Catalysts ++, stated.
"Garuda is disrupting the drone ecosystem by introducing the micro entrepreneur business model for rural India, after successfully establishing itself as a leader in the corporate and industrial segment. We believe in their vision to use drones for Bharat, and feel that they will unlock a very big value for agricultural use of drones, by involving young rural level entrepreneurs.
"We really liked the way founder Agni has led the company till now as one of top successful drone tech, and his vision and passion made our decision easy while backing them," added Neeraj Tyagi,Co-Founder and CEO, We Founder Circle.
The funds secured through this bridge round will be primarily utilised to address the sudden demand for drone solutions.
The company will allocate the funds towards working capital requirements, ensuring seamless execution of the IFFCO drone order and fulfilling the pre-booked orders from numerous dealers across the country.
Recently, Garuda Aerospace has achieved remarkable milestones, including a strategic partnership with IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited) for a drone order of 400 units and an impressive pre-booking of 10,000 drones from 700 dealers across the country.
These groundbreaking developments have resulted in a sudden surge in demand for the company's innovative drone solutions in recent times.
Founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash, an alumnus of Harvard Business School and a former Asian gold medalist, Garuda Aerospace is revolutionizing the drone industry with its asset-light, recession-proof, and unit-economic-focused business model.
The company not only designs and manufactures precision agriculture drones but also empowers rural entrepreneurs through an uberized ecosystem, making a positive impact on the lives of farmers.
With a solid order book and a first-mover advantage in the agricultural drone segment, Garuda Aerospace has secured an impressive 55% market share in the $3 billion Precision Agri Drone industry.
The overall drone industry, estimated at $7 billion, continues to see remarkable growth. (UNI)