Drone maker ideaForge Technology files IPO papers with SEBI

Drone maker ideaForgeideaForge Technology has filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator SEBI to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

The public issue comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 300 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 48,69,712 equity shares by one of the promoters and existing shareholders, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

Those selling shares in the OFS include Ashish Bhat, A&E Investment LLC, Agarwal Trademart, Celesta Capital II Mauritius, Celesta Capital II-B Mauritius, Export Import Bank of India, Indusage Technology Venture Fund I, Qualcomm Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, and Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Also, the company may consider an issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 60 crore. If such placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced.

Proceeds from the fresh issuance to the tune of Rs 50 crore will be utilised for debt payment, Rs 135 crore towards funding working capital requirements, and Rs 40 crore for investment in product development and general corporate purposes.

Founded in 2007, the Mumbai-based company has the largest operational deployment of indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) across India, with its drones taking off every five minutes on average for surveillance and mapping.

ideaForge's customers include the armed forces, central armed police forces, state police departments, disaster management forces, forest departments, and civil customers.

During the 2015 earthquake, ideaForge UAVs were used for site monitoring in Kathmandu, Nepal, and other locations to aid with the search and rescue activities.

During a terrorist incident in Pampore in 2016, ideaForge UAVs were able to deliver crucial intelligence by revealing the precise locations of the terrorists, as per the draft papers.

Further, ideaForge's Ninja UAV was utilised to curb theft and pilferage cases with its partnership with railways to boost their surveillance operations.

The company was incubated by the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay, and subsequently by CIIE Initiatives, IIM Ahmedabad.

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The company has turned around from being loss-making in FY21 to clocking a profit of Rs 44.01 crore in FY22. Its revenue from operations increased from Rs 34.72 crore in FY21 to Rs 159.44 crore in FY22.

For the six months ended September 30, 2022, revenue from operations stood at Rs 139.55 crore and profit after tax at Rs 45.21 crore.

JM Financial and IIFL Securities are the book-running lead managers to the issue.

Last year, Droneacharya Aerial Innovations got listed on the BSE SME platform.