Drone startups in India has grown significantly, with a 34.4% surge in the number of startups in this space between August 2021 and February 2022. Moreover, as per industry reports, the annual sales turnover of the drone manufacturing industry in India is expected to increase from INR 60 crore in FY21 to over INR 900 crore in FY24, showcasing the sector’s enormous potential.
Following the liberalization of the drone policy by the Indian government in July 2021, many startups and companies have ventured into the drone industry. Thus, it is worth examining some of
Innovative Drone Startups in India 2023:
Aarav Unmanned Systems
Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS) is a prominent drone technology company that provides comprehensive drone solutions for enterprise applications in Mining, Infrastructure, Urban Planning, Irrigation, Energy, and Agriculture.
AUS was shortlisted by the Indian government to map India’s 600,000 villages. In July 2022, AUS partnered with Tata Steel to offer innovative and efficient integrated drone solutions for open-cast mining operations. AUS also secured a lease financial deal worth INR 3.75 Cr with Grip, highlighting its commitment to innovation and growth in the Indian drone technology market.
Their design innovation, data analytics, and data democratization efforts continually set world-class tech benchmarks, making them the leader in India’s commercial drone industry. AUS has already mapped over 5.5 million acres of land for various projects in India, including 200+ mines, 35+ cities, and 25,000+ villages.
Website : https://aus.co.in/
Founding Year: 2013
Founder Detail: Vipul Singh, Suhas Banshiwala
Funding: $748K in funding to date
Aero360
Aero360 is a drone solutions provider based in India. Their services include mapping and surveying, 3D modeling, inspection and monitoring, and more. They offer customized solutions for industries such as agriculture, mining, construction, and infrastructure. Aero360 also provides training programs for drone pilots and data analysts. They claim to use advanced drone technology and software for data processing and analysis. They have clientele like Vedanta, Indus Power, Tata Communication & many more.
Website: https://aero360.co.in/
Founding Year: 2017
Founder Detail: Pragadish Santhosh
Funding: Undisclosed Funding to date
DeTect Technologies
DeTect Technologies, headquartered in Chennai, is an Indian company focused on developing pipeline integrity and management solutions. The company develops products that support predictive maintenance of oil and gas pipelines and leak prediction.
The company’s flagship product, GUMPS, is a fully automated continuous condition monitoring system for channels that can operate in extreme temperatures. With a vision to make industries safe and efficient, their team works to develop intelligent and affordable technology.
Since its inception in 2016, Detect has penetrated 80% of the market in India’s oil and gas sector and is also present in other processing industries such as steel, electricity, chemicals and fertilizers.
Some of their clients include Nayara Energy, Jindal Steel & Power, Indian Oil, Coromandel, NTPC, Adani, Cipla, Vedanta, and many more.
Website: https://detecttechnologies.com/
Founding Year: 2016
Founder Details: Daniel Raj David, Harikrishnan A.S., & Tarun Mishra
Funding: Undisclosed Amount
Dhaksha Unmanned Systems
DUMS (Drone User Management System) is a leading end-to-end unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology solutions provider. With our domain expertise, They offer a complete range of services to build a world-class technology company that meets the growing demands of the UAS/UAV technology market.
The company focuses on developing Smart Drones (SD) to cater to the future demands of homeland security and civil and commercial market segments. They provide UAS technology solutions for various industries, including Agriculture, Forestry, Transportation, Mining & Energy, Remote Sensing, Tourism, Hazardous Material Handling, and Smart City applications.
Website: https://www.teamdhaksha.com/
Founding Year: 2019
Founder Detail: Ramanathan Narayanan
Funding: Undisclosed Amount funding to date
DroneAcharya Aerial
DroneAcharya is a leading drone-based solutions provider for diverse industries such as Oil & Gas, Mining, Infrastructure, and Agriculture. Along with enterprise solutions, the company offers comprehensive training in drone control, construction, data processing, and other industrial drone applications.
In December 2022, DroneAcharya secured pre-IPO funding of Cr INR 9.66 from renowned investors such as Aegis Investment Fund, India Maven Fund, Nav Capital Fund VCC-NAV Capital, and Zinnia Global Fund.
The company’s innovative solutions enable businesses to access Live Views, Inspection, and 3D Modeling of their assets underwater or on the ground. Additionally, DroneAcharya provides DGCA Certified Drone Pilot Training and Geospatial Training Courses to equip professionals with the required skills and certification to excel in the field.
Website Link: https://droneacharya.com
Founding Year: 2017
Founder Details: Prateek Srivastava
Funding: Undisclosed Amount
Drones TechLab
Drone Tech Lab, headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, is a provider of customized geospatial solutions using unmanned systems. The company is committed to delivering speed, precision, innovation, and a flexible service ethic. Their surveillance solutions encompass hardware, software, and data analysis systems.
Drone Tech Lab offers a wide range of drones, including Agricultural Drones, Pesticide Spraying Drones, Crop Monitoring Drones, Surveillance Drones, Camera Drones, Magnetic Control Helicopters luxury (RC), Swarm Drones, Anti-Drone Systems, Water Heaters, and Photography Drones. They also act as an importer and have established a relationship with DJI Drone company, offering a range of products for both beginners and expert users.
Drone Tech Lab has a reputable and accredited customer base, including DIAT (under DRDO), Merlin Corporation, and the Indian Army.
Website Link: https://www.dronestechlabs.com/
Founding Year: 2014
Founder Details: Biswajit Dey & Ritesh Kanu
Funding: Undisclosed Amount
Endure Air Systems
Endure Air Systems specializes in providing customized drone solutions for various applications, including logistics, border monitoring, and aerial mapping.
C has already developed over 10 products with a strong focus on innovation and holds five patents in landing technology and vertical takeoff segments. The startup has partnered with several government agencies, including the Uttar Pradesh Police, DRDO, HAL, and NDRF, to provide cutting-edge drone technology for various projects.
Their drone is a unique design for logistics and delivery.
It has a compact biplane design, high speed, precision landing, and multi-redundant actuators. It doesn’t need a runway, catapult, or parachute, making it highly flexible.
Website Link: https://endureair.tech/
Founding Year: 2019
Founder Details: Dr. Abhishek, Rama Krishna, Chirag Jain, Dr. Mangal Kothari
Funding: INR 13.5 Cr in funding to date, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Garuda Aerospace
Garuda Aerospace’s successful drone startup in India & focuses on innovation and technology. The company’s team of experts is constantly developing new and improved drone solutions for Agriculture, Disaster Management, Anti-Drone Systems, Delivery, and Traffic Monitoring.
One of its flagship offerings is the Kisan Agri drone, explicitly designed for agricultural use. With advanced sensors and cameras, this drone can capture high-quality images of crops and farmlands. The company has been acknowledged by the Indian government and awarded the National Entrepreneurship Award in 2017.
In April 2023, Garuda Aerospace became the first company to receive the government’s agri-drone subsidy. The subsidy was granted for its Garuda Kisan drones, which assist farmers in managing crops and spraying pesticides. The scheme enabled Garuda to provide drones to eight farmers.
Website Link: https://www.garudaaerospace.com/
Founding Year: 2016
Founder Details: Agnishwar Jayprakash
Funding: $22.7 million in funding to date
Indo Drone Solution
Indrones is an end-to-end drone solutions company based in Mumbai working on GIS Maps, Surveying, and Industrial and Agricultural Inspectors. Its product line includes three drone models: Sigma 55, Sigma 75, and Vector VTOL.
The company offers another product like Agisoft Metashape, a stand-alone software product that performs photo-photographic processing of digital images and generates 3D spatial data for use in GIS applications, documents cultural heritage materials and visual effects, as well as indirect production. Measurements of objects have different scales.
Its key features include image triangulation, dense point cloud editing and classification, digital elevation modeling – DSM/DTM export, georeferenced orthography export, measure – distance, area, volume, ground control – high-precision surveying, multi-spectral image processing, and so on.
Website: https://indrones.com/
Founding Year: 2013
Founder Details: Ravi Singh, Pravin Prajapati & Harshad Bhanushali
Funding: 7 Crore
Skylark Drones
Skylark Drones provides drone-based solutions for various industries such as infrastructure, mining, agriculture, and utilities, to name a few. They aim to provide geospatial intelligence to businesses through their products, Spectra and Drone Mission Ops, which offer workplace intelligence, cross-platform integration, and API access. Skylark also offers computer vision software that analyzes aerial images to provide industry-specific insights.
The company’s clientele includes Tata Steel, Balaco, Hindustan Zinc, Ultratech, Reliance Infra, Bosch, and others. Skylark intends to expand internationally, develop its products based on drone data analysis, and provide superior business decision-making strategies to its customers.
Website Link: https://www.skylarkdrones.com/
Founding Year: 2014
Founder Details: Mrinal Pai, Mughilan Thiru Ramasamy
Funding: $3 million in funding to date
TechEagle Innovations
TechEagle is an Indian drone logistics airline startup specializing in last and mid-mile deliveries. It aims to revolutionize the logistics industry with the use of drone technology.
The company has already received approvals from the government of India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the regulators, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to conduct package delivery Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights in various parts of the country.
The company is looking to hire across various functions to support its growth and expansion plans. With its innovative use of drone technology and its commitment to making last and mid-mile deliveries more efficient, TechEagle is poised to impact the logistics industry in India and beyond significantly.
Website: https://www.techeagle.in
Founding Year: 2015
Founder Details: Vikram Singh Meena, Anshu Abhishek
Funding: $500k in funding to date
Throttle aero
Throttle Aerospace specializes in providing drone solutions for mining, agriculture, aerial photography, and surveillance. With over 15 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industries, the team offers expertise in design, engineering, manufacturing, software development, and supply chain.
Throttle is DGCA-approved for civilian drones and holds a Ministry of Defense license for military drone production. Its 10,000 square feet manufacturing facility is located in Kolar, Karnataka. In May, RattanIndia Enterprises’ NeoSky subsidiary acquired a 60% stake in Throttle Aerospace, enabling Neosky to offer various drone solutions to customers.
Website: https://throttle.aero/
Founding Year: 2016
Founder Detail: Nagendran Kandasamy
Funding: Undisclosed Funding to date
Urban Matrix
Urban Matrix Technologies gives businesses easy access to the potential of aerial data by developing drone hardware that complies with industry standards and uses their software.
It enables users to view high-quality live video footage from anywhere worldwide, process drone footage using AI models for real-time automated tracking, plan complex missions and coordinate drone fleets efficiently through a single platform, and manage aerial operations with practical management tools
UrbanMatrix has developed a new operating system for uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) that features lighter, more efficient Lithium-Ion batteries with four times as many recharge cycles, a custom-designed mission computer for reliable flights, and a proprietary ground control station for quick launch. The system also includes innovative AI and machine learning models for cloud-based data processing. The result is a sleek and efficient system that combines advanced technology with ease of use.
Website Link: https://www.urbanmatrix.co.in/
Founding Year: 2019
Founder Details: Divyanshu Pundir, Ashutosh Kumar & Rishab Verma
Funding: Rs 1.2 Cr in funding to date
Conclusion
The drone industry is overgrowing in India, and these Top Drone Startups are leading the way with innovative technologies and solutions. Each startup has a unique focus and mission, from agricultural drones to surveillance drones.
As the demand for drones continues to rise, these startups are poised to significantly impact various industries, including agriculture, construction, and logistics. They are also contributing to the Indian government’s efforts to promote the adoption of drones for multiple applications.
Overall, the future of the drone industry in India looks bright, and we can expect to see more exciting developments and innovations from these startups in the coming years.
