 "Drone")
Garuda Aerospace, the drone company backed by former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has raised Rs 25 crore in a fresh bridge round of funding led by Venture Catalysts 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.
"This fresh capital infusion will play a crucial role in accelerating our growth and enhancing our capabilities to meet the escalating market demand," said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder-chief executive officer, Garuda Aerospace. "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."
Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, founder and managing director at Venture Catalysts, said Garuda's 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.
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 has achieved remarkable milestones, including a strategic partnership with IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited) for a drone order of 400 units and pre-booking of a total of 10,000 drones from 700 dealers across the country. These developments have resulted in a sudden surge in demand for the company's innovative drone solutions in recent times.
"We believe in their vision to use drones for Bharat, and feel that they will unlock a very big value for agriculture use of drones, by involving young rural-level entrepreneurs," said Neeraj Tyagi, co-founder and chief executive officer, WeFounderCircle.
Founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash, an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Garuda is tapping 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, making a positive impact on the lives of farmers. Garuda said it has secured an impressive 55 per cent market share in the $3 billion Precision Agri Drone industry. The overall drone industry, estimated at $7 billion, continues to see remarkable growth, according to analysts.
