Content Cabinet
The short answer
India's leading drone startups include ideaForge (listed; surveillance and mapping drones), Raphe mPhibr (military drones; $100 million raised in 2025), NewSpace (swarm drones), Zuppa (autopilots), Dhaksha (farm and logistics drones), Big Bang Boom Solutions and Indrajaal (counter-drone systems), Airbound, Skye Air and TechEagle (delivery), Garuda Aerospace and Marut (farm drones), Aereo (mapping) and EyeROV (underwater drones).
Disclosure: Content Cabinet is a film and content studio. No company paid to be on this list.
How we picked
Every company here was started in India, makes drones or drone systems here, and has public funding, orders or results. We checked each one on 10 October 2026 against the original reports and the companies' own sites, linked under Sources. Counter-drone makers are on the list because the same defence buyers usually buy both.
The fourteen, side by side
| Company | Based in | Builds | Latest funding or orders, as reported | Backers or owners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ideaForge | Mumbai | Surveillance and mapping drones | Record ₹530 crore of orders in 2025-26 | Listed on NSE and BSE since July 2023 |
| Raphe mPhibr | Noida | Military drones, swarms and avionics | $100M Series B, June 2025; $145M in total | General Catalyst, Think Investments |
| NewSpace Research and Technologies | Bengaluru | Swarm drones for the armed forces | $52M round: $33M equity, $19M debt | Cornerstone Venture Partners, 360 ONE, SBI, SIDBI |
| Zuppa | Chennai | Drone autopilots and flight-control modules | $1.5M bridge round, August 2025 | Rahul Dewan, Sangam Talks |
| Dhaksha Unmanned Systems | Chennai | Farm, logistics and surveillance drones | Army order for 200 logistics drones; new plant, August 2026 | Coromandel International (majority owner) |
| Big Bang Boom Solutions | Chennai | Counter-drone systems | Defence orders over ₹200 crore; about ₹250 crore raised, 2024 | Mumbai Angels and family offices |
| Indrajaal | Hyderabad | AI anti-drone systems for wide areas | ₹48 crore pre-Series A, September 2025 | India Accelerator, Finvolve |
| Airbound | Bengaluru | Tailsitter delivery drones | $37M Series A, August 2026; nearly $50M in total | Greenoaks, DoorDash, Lightspeed |
| Skye Air | Gurugram | Drone delivery and drone traffic software | $4M Series A, June 2024 | Mount Judi Ventures, Chiratae Ventures |
| TechEagle | Gurugram | Hybrid e-VTOL delivery drones | Bridge round, May 2024 | Navam Capital, Inflection Point Ventures |
| Garuda Aerospace | Chennai | Farm, survey and defence drones | ₹100 crore Series B at a $250M valuation, April 2025 | Venture Catalysts, MS Dhoni |
| Marut Drones | Hyderabad | Farm drones and pilot training | $6.2M Series A, November 2024 | Lok Capital |
| Aereo | Bengaluru | Drone surveys and mapping | $15M Series B, July 2024, plus $1.8M from JSW Ventures | 360 ONE Asset, JSW Ventures |
| EyeROV | Kochi | Underwater drones (ROVs) | ₹47 crore Navy order; first two delivered 7 October 2026 | AWE Funds, Unicorn India Ventures |
The companies, one at a time
Defence and security
ideaForge
Builds: surveillance and mapping drones for the armed forces, police and industry
ideaForge is the best-known Indian drone maker, and its SWITCH and Q-series drones fly for the armed forces and police. Its January to March 2026 quarter was its strongest yet, with ₹141 crore of revenue and ₹60 crore of profit.
Latest: a record ₹530 crore of orders in 2025-26, including an Indian Army order for its Zolt and SWITCH drones, and the company says it is moving into combat drones.
Raphe mPhibr
Builds: military drones and the electronics that fly them, from swarm systems to logistics and maritime patrol aircraft
Raphe mPhibr designs and builds its aircraft and avionics in India, mainly for the armed forces. Its June 2025 round was reported as the largest ever raised by an Indian defence-tech startup.
Latest: a $100 million Series B in June 2025 led by General Catalyst, taking its total to $145 million.
NewSpace Research and Technologies
Builds: drones that fly together as a swarm, for the armed forces
A swarm splits one mission between many small drones, so losing a few does not end it. Livefist reported an Indian Army order for 100 swarm drone units from NewSpace.
Latest: a $52 million round: $33 million of equity from investors including Cornerstone Venture Partners and 360 ONE, and $19 million of debt from SBI and SIDBI.
Zuppa
Builds: drone autopilots and flight-control modules
Zuppa designs the electronics a drone flies on, including flight control, vision guidance and AI targeting modules for drones and defence systems. That matters to buyers who want Indian-made electronics in place of imported parts.
Latest: a $1.5 million bridge round in August 2025, led by Rahul Dewan and Sangam Talks.
Dhaksha Unmanned Systems
Builds: drones for farm spraying, logistics and surveillance
Dhaksha works on both sides of the drone market. In 2023 it won an Indian Army order for 200 logistics drones and an IFFCO order for 400 farm drones, together worth over ₹165 crore.
Latest: a new plant in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, opened in August 2026, with a production line for defence drones and two new farm models.
Counter-drone
Big Bang Boom Solutions
Builds: systems that detect, track and stop hostile drones
Its Vajra Sentinel uses radio-frequency sensing and computer vision to find drones and bring them down. The defence ministry signed an order worth over ₹200 crore with the company in 2024, and it delivered its first systems to the Indian Air Force in 2025.
Latest: about ₹250 crore ($30 million) raised in 2024, from investors including Mumbai Angels.
Indrajaal
Builds: AI-run anti-drone systems that guard wide areas
Indrajaal's system is built to protect up to 4,000 square kilometres against rogue drones, swarms included, and is deployed at sites such as naval ports, according to Inc42.
Latest: ₹48 crore in a pre-Series A round in September 2025, co-led by India Accelerator and Finvolve.
Delivery
Airbound
Builds: delivery drones meant to make flying a parcel cheaper than driving it
Airbound's aircraft is a blended-wing tailsitter: it takes off straight up like a rocket, then flies like a plane. The company says it has completed more than 13,000 autonomous flights, including hospital sample runs that cut transport times from hours to minutes.
Latest: a $37 million Series A in August 2026 led by Greenoaks, with DoorDash, Lightspeed and Lachy Groom, taking it to nearly $50 million raised.
Skye Air
Builds: a drone delivery network, and Skye UTM, software that manages drone traffic
Skye Air flies deliveries for healthcare, e-commerce and quick-commerce, starting in Gurugram, and builds its own system for keeping many drones safely apart in the same sky.
Latest: a $4 million Series A in June 2024, led by Mount Judi Ventures with Chiratae Ventures.
TechEagle
Builds: hybrid e-VTOL drones that take off like a helicopter and cruise like a plane
TechEagle's Vertiplane X3 is rated for about 100 km a flight at up to 120 km an hour. The company has flown medicine deliveries in the hills of Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh.
Latest: a bridge round in May 2024, co-led by Navam Capital and Inflection Point Ventures, ahead of a Series A.
Farms, maps and the sea
Garuda Aerospace
Builds: drones for farm spraying, surveys and defence
Garuda is one of India's biggest makers of farm drones, and cricketer MS Dhoni is an investor and brand ambassador. It is using its latest round to scale production and finish an R&D and testing centre for defence drones.
Latest: ₹100 crore in a Series B from Venture Catalysts in April 2025, at a valuation of $250 million.
Marut Drones
Builds: spraying drones for farmers, and academies that train drone pilots
Marut sells farm drones through partners in smaller towns and trains the pilots who fly them. Its Skyswift 56 surveillance drone received a DGCA type certificate in 2025.
Latest: a $6.2 million Series A in November 2024, led by Lok Capital.
Aereo
Builds: drone surveys and maps for mines, infrastructure and land records
Aereo says it has mapped 45,000 villages and 15 million acres, including work under the government's SVAMITVA land-records scheme, and has done 750 mine surveys.
Latest: a $15 million Series B in July 2024 led by 360 ONE Asset, then $1.8 million more from JSW Ventures in October 2024.
EyeROV
Builds: underwater drones that inspect where divers cannot go
EyeROV's TROUT is a remotely operated underwater vehicle rated to 300 metres. The Indian Navy ordered it in a ₹47 crore contract in September 2025, and took delivery of the first two systems on 7 October 2026.
Latest: ₹13 crore in a pre-Series A round in February 2026, from AWE Funds and Unicorn India Ventures.
Why India's drone makers grew so fast
Policy did much of the work. The Drone Rules of August 2021 cut the paperwork for flying. A production-linked incentive scheme followed in September 2021, with ₹120 crore over three years for drone and component makers. From 9 February 2022 India banned imports of finished foreign drones, with exceptions for research, defence and security, while components stayed free to import. Local makers got the home market to themselves.
Defence demand rose again in 2025. Defence startups reported a jump in orders after Operation Sindoor in May 2025, and ideaForge booked a record ₹530 crore of orders in 2025-26.
Telling a drone story
A drone clip shows a drone flying. Buyers want the mission: how far, how much it carries, what it replaces and the moment it matters. Investors want to see why the hardware is hard to copy. That gap decides whether a demo turns into an order. We make launch films, 3D product films and engineering explainers for deep tech companies, including a film on the technology behind Minus Zero's zPod. See also our lists of robotics startups and space tech startups in India, and how Anduril markets a defence company.
Questions people ask
Which are the top drone startups in India?
Well-known names include ideaForge, Raphe mPhibr, NewSpace Research and Technologies, Zuppa and Dhaksha in defence; Big Bang Boom Solutions and Indrajaal in counter-drone; Airbound, Skye Air and TechEagle in delivery; and Garuda Aerospace, Marut Drones, Aereo and EyeROV in farming, mapping and underwater work.
Which Indian drone startup has raised the most money?
Of the companies on this list, Raphe mPhibr has raised the most, $145 million in total, including a $100 million Series B led by General Catalyst in June 2025. ideaForge is listed on the stock exchanges.
Which Indian companies make military drones?
ideaForge, Raphe mPhibr, NewSpace Research and Technologies, Zuppa and Dhaksha Unmanned Systems all supply drones or drone systems for defence. Big Bang Boom Solutions and Indrajaal make systems that stop hostile drones.
Which companies do drone delivery in India?
Airbound in Bengaluru, and Skye Air and TechEagle in Gurugram. Airbound raised a $37 million Series A in August 2026 and says it has flown more than 13,000 autonomous flights.
Which drone startups are based in Bengaluru?
Airbound, NewSpace Research and Technologies and Aereo are in Bengaluru. Chennai has Zuppa, Dhaksha, Big Bang Boom Solutions and Garuda Aerospace, and Hyderabad has Indrajaal and Marut Drones.
Can drones be imported into India?
Finished drones mostly cannot. India banned imports of foreign drones from 9 February 2022, with exceptions for research, defence and security, while drone components can still be imported without approval.
Sources
- Aviation & Defence Universe, ideaForge's Q4 and FY26 results (Apr 2026)
- TechCrunch, Raphe mPhibr raises $100M as military drone demand soars (Jun 2025)
- Evertiq, Raphe mPhibr's Series B takes its total to $145M (Jun 2025)
- Raksha Anirveda, NewSpace raises $52 million
- Venture Intelligence, NewSpace raises $33M in equity from Cornerstone, 360 ONE and Volrado
- Livefist, Army orders 100 swarm drones from Indian startup
- Evertiq, Zuppa raises a $1.5M bridge round (Aug 2025)
- Coromandel, Dhaksha bags ₹165 crore of defence and farm drone orders (Aug 2023)
- Coromandel, Dhaksha opens a new plant in Kancheepuram (2026)
- Outlook Business, defence ministry signs a ₹200 crore anti-drone deal with Big Bang Boom (2024)
- Inc42, Big Bang Boom raises $30M for its anti-drone systems (2024)
- Aviation & Defence Universe, Big Bang Boom delivers Vajra Sentinel to the IAF (2025)
- Inc42, Indrajaal raises ₹48 crore (Sep 2025)
- CXO Digital Pulse, Airbound raises $37M led by Greenoaks (Aug 2026)
- STAT Times, Airbound raises $37M to make drone delivery cheaper than road (Aug 2026)
- Entrepreneur India, Skye Air lands a $4M Series A (Jun 2024)
- STAT Times, TechEagle launches the Vertiplane X3
- BW Disrupt, TechEagle closes a bridge round led by Navam Capital and IPV (May 2024)
- Business Today, Garuda Aerospace secures ₹100 crore in Series B (Apr 2025)
- Inc42, Marut Drones bags $6.2M from Lok Capital (Nov 2024)
- EPC World, Marut's Skyswift 56 gets DGCA type certification (2025)
- Inc42, Aereo bags $15M in Series B (Jul 2024)
- Entrepreneur India, JSW Ventures adds $1.8M to Aereo's Series B (Oct 2024)
- The Week, the Indian Navy gets India's first military-grade underwater ROV (Oct 2026)
- Aviation & Defence Universe, EyeROV bags a ₹47 crore Navy order (Sep 2025)
- CXO Digital Pulse, EyeROV raises ₹13 crore (Feb 2026)
- Business Today, how the drone import ban can push local manufacturing (Feb 2022)
- Manorama Yearbook, government approves a ₹120 crore PLI scheme for drones (Sep 2021)
- Entrepreneur India, defence startups zoom after Operation Sindoor
