Drone manufacturer and market leader in agri drone and industry 4.0 services, Garuda Aerospace creates history by raising US $22 million, the largest ever Series A funding in the drone sector.

The round was led by Venture Capital firm SphitiCap which invested US $12 million; global investors, angel investors, and HNIs contributed US $5 million; and another US $5 million funding from an infra-development company, a group of HNI and angel investors from India, UAE, and Singapore.

The acquired funds will be utilized to scale up and expand the company’s operation. A part of the funds will be used for R&D thus accelerating the development of building advanced drone solutions for the armed forces in collaboration with global companies for the defence and aerospace sector. The funds will also be used for the skilling and training of drone pilots and help create employment with deepening its footprints in Tier II and III cities.

Garuda drones will further be enhanced with payload capacities, endurance, quality of sensors, and data embedding with more technology solutions. Currently operating pan-India, Garuda Aerospace aims to achieve significant dominance in rural areas which will help manufacture drones that will bring fast delivery, reduce cost, and improve accessibility.

Talking about funding, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace said, "Garuda Aerospace is on the path to becoming the first ever drone unicorn startup in India with receiving great validation from the venture capital firms and investment communities. 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."

“After Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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. Our business model is asset light, tech driven, market agnostic, and recession proof. The reason why Garuda is growing so fast is that our smart drones are disrupting multi-billion dollar sectors such as agriculture, mapping, infrastructure, Industry 4.0, defence, mining, and project inspections not just in India but across the world," added Agnishwar.

Pallav Kumar Singh, Managing Partner, SphitiCap said, “I’m extremely thrilled and excited to be a part of Garuda Aerospace’s growth story. Garuda Aerospace has built various types of drones with an interesting segment and their developments in the drone sector are one to watch out for. 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.”