[Funding alert] Mumbai-based drone startup ideaForge raises Rs 15 Cr from BlackSoil

Mumbai-based drone startup ideaForgehas raised Rs 15 crore from BlackSoilin a venture debt round. This announcement comes in right after IT services major Infosys announced its investment of $1 million in the company.

According to the official statement, the company will utilise these funds to meet its working capital requirements for servicing its large order book.

"We are pleased to have BlackSoil as our partner. The time of the funding is opportune as we expect strong growth in our product pipeline. The funds, along with recent fundraise from Infosys and other investors, will support ideaForge in the execution of our burgeoning order book, and we hope to build on this relationship and catapult the company into the next phase of growth," Ankit Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of ideaForge, said in a statement.

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Founded in 2007 by IIT Mumbai alumni Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, Vipul Joshi, and Ashish Bhat, ideaForge is involved in the manufacturing of drones for defence, homeland security, and industrial applications.

Recently, in January, ideaForge bagged a $20 million contract from the Indian Army for the delivery of its high-altitude variant product – Switch Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). SWITCH is a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) with advanced capabilities of operating at high altitudes and difficult climatic conditions for day and night surveillance.

In 2016, the startup had raised $10 million (Rs 70 crore) as part of its Series A investment round led by WRV Capital and IndusAge Partners. Infosys had also invested $1.5 million in this round.

The drone manufacturer works with homeland and security agencies in the country. With more than 15 years of R&D and has applied for over 20 patents in Indian and international markets. The company claims to deployed more than 1,000 drones since its inception. 

Speaking about the investment, Ankur Bansal, Director of BlackSoil Capital, said, “ideaForge has created a robust line of drones backed by best in class hardware and software capabilities. We believe the new Indian Army contract is just a beginning for large-scale adoption of UAVs across security, surveillance, mapping for defence, industrial and agricultural applications in India. Covid has also accelerated the adoption and use of drones for various new use cases in urban areas.”