Vayudh Raises USD 10 Mn for Defence Drone Tech

Mumbai, Apr 22 (PTI) Home-grown defence technology platform Vayudh on Tuesday said it has secured USD 10 million (around Rs 85 crore) funding from a clutch of investors led by Dharana Capital along with Eternal Ltd (Zomato) founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, among others.

The new funds will help the company deepen its R&D capabilities, expand manufacturing infrastructure, and accelerate deployments with India's Defence forces, Vayudh said in a statement.

Other investors in this round include Ajay Aggarwal - MD of Action TESA, Sumit Jalan of LetsVenture, and Navam Capital, as per the platform.

Vayudh is the defence vertical of BotLab Dynamics Pvt Ltd, a start-up from IIT Delhi, builds indigenous drone platforms for real-time battlefield intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

Founded by Tanmay Bunkar, Anuj Barnwal and Sarita Ahlawat in 2016, Vayudh, which had earlier raised funds from Florintree Advisors, has developed expertise in swarm drone technology with over 300,000 autonomous flying hours in defence and other commercial applications like drone shows and industrial surveying.

The company recently launched Atri, India's first nano drone tailored for precision surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

"This funding marks a pivotal step in our journey to develop indigenous, cutting-edge defence drone technology of global standards. We remain focused on deepening our R&D pipeline and scaling manufacturing to meet growing demand from India's defence sector," said Tanmay Bunkar, CEO, Vayudh.