VECROS: The Indian Drone Startup Navigating Without GPS
From Shark Tank to defence trials, VECROS is scaling deep-tech drone innovation across India and beyond.
Key Takeaways
- VECROS builds fully autonomous drones for GPS-denied, Signal Denied and High Risk environments using proprietary spatial AI.
- Founded by IIT-Delhi and NIT Nagpur alumni, the startup aims to revolutionise industrial drone inspections.
- Its flagship product, ATHERA, combines hardware and Jetpix OS to deliver safe, real-time navigation and obstacle avoidance.
- Backed by Rebalance Angel, Nvidia Inception, IDEX Defence, and Shark Tank India.
- Positioned to scale in sectors like infrastructure, defence, and emergency services with global ambitions.
In the high-stakes world of industrial inspections and defence operations, reliability is non-negotiable—and GPS isn’t always guaranteed. That’s the void VECROS, an Indian deep-tech drone startup, is filling with its cutting-edge autonomous UAVs. Co-founded by engineering minds from IIT Delhi and NIT Nagpur, the company is developing drones that fly intelligently without GPS, using spatial AI to navigate complex real-world scenarios.
Engineering the Future of Aerial Autonomy
VECROS—short for “VECTOR + ROS”—was officially founded in 2021, although its roots trace back to research and aeromodelling initiatives in 2018. CEO Besta Prem Sai, an IIT-Delhi graduate with hands-on experience building aerial robots, joined forces with CTO Rajeshree Deotalu, a robotics expert from NIT Nagpur. Their shared passion for autonomous flight converged into a singular vision: drones capable of operating without human pilots or GPS dependencies.
Their solution is ATHERA, a flagship drone platform featuring spatial AI, a proprietary operating system (Jetpix OS), and an 8-camera perception suite. This enables ATHERA to conduct inspections, surveillance, and mapping missions in GPS-denied environments like tunnels, factories, and dense infrastructure zones, where traditional drones falter.
Built on Innovation, Backed by Ecosystems
VECROS has been nurtured by robust institutional support. From research at IIT-Delhi and NIT Nagpur to acceleration via Nvidia Inception, Kalari Capital’s Build-It, and Rebalance Angel, the startup has built credibility across India’s deep-tech landscape.
It has won recognition through the Sterlite Innovation Challenge, IDEX Defence India, and was recently featured on Shark Tank India Season 3, securing a Rs 1 crore deal (Rs 20 lakh equity + Rs 80 Lakh debt) from Aman Gupta.
The team, numbering around 10–20 engineers and designers, embodies a rigorous robotics-first mindset and is actively scaling operations with a second base in Bengaluru.
Drones for Real-World Impact
The global drone inspection market is projected to hit $30 billion by 2026, with India poised to be a major adopter. VECROS is tapping into sectors like utilities, oil & gas, railways, agriculture, and emergency services. VECROS offers a complete drone solution with ATHERA hardware, Jetpix OS software, and JetCore boards, making it a one-stop shop for autonomous aerial tasks.
Its business model spans hardware sales, mission-based services, and future SaaS monetisation via its proprietary software ecosystem.
Challenges, Lessons, and the Road Ahead
Developing GPS-independent autonomy is fraught with technical and operational hurdles: from real-world data training and algorithm optimisation to certification compliance and scalable manufacturing. VECROS has navigated these with grit—learning that validation through real pilots and pressure-tested pitches (like Shark Tank) is just as critical as engineering excellence.
In the near term, the company is focused on scaling manufacturing, finalising its battery swap system, and expanding trials with defence and enterprise clients. Long-term plans include launching drone variants and exporting to global markets.