$3 M raised by MS Dhoni-backed drone startup Garuda Aerospace
Summary
A bridge round led by Venture Catalysts and WeFounderCircle has raised Rs 25 crore (roughly $3 million) for drone startup Garuda Aerospace. The money will be used by the business to meet its working capital needs and guarantee that orders that have been reserved will be filled.Along with IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited), Garuda Aerospace pre-booked 10,000 drones from 700 dealers nationwide, placing an order for 400 drones in total.Drone-as-a-service (DaaS) startup Garuda Aerospace was founded in 2015 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash. It designs, builds, and customizes drones for a range of use cases, including deliveries, disaster relief, and agricultural applications. Garuda Aerospace, which employs more than 200 people, says it has over 500 pilots and 400 drones spread across 26 Indian cities.It states that it has completed various projects for over 750 clients, including TATA, Godrej, Adani, Reliance, L&T, Amazon, Wipro, NHAI, and Indian startups like Swiggy, Flipkart, and Delhivery.Garuda Aerospaces operating revenue increased by over 7X to Rs 15.31 crore in FY22 from Rs 2.13 crore in FY21. The companys main sources of income are the sales of drones and their accessories, surveillance fees, and other associated services.