Drone Specialist ideaForge Secures INR 15 Cr From BlackSoil Capital The funds will be used to meet the working capital requirements of the company to service its large order book
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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Homegrown UAV manufacturer ideaForge—backed by WRVI Capital, Qualcomm, and Infosys—announced on Tuesday to have raised INR 15 crore from BlackSoil Capital.
The company has recently received a $20 million order from the Indian Army for its SWITCH UAVs. SWITCH is a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) with the capability of operating at high altitudes and difficult climatic conditions for day and night surveillance.
The funds will be used for meeting the working capital requirements of the company to service 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," said Ankit Mehta, co-founder, and chief executive officer, ideaForge.
The platform serves a number of homeland and security agencies in the country and has its product portfolio of drones that have been developed keeping in mind the use cases relevant to India.
"ideaForge has created a robust line of drones backed by best-in-class hardware and software capabilities. Their products are best suited for Indian enterprise customers and solve for a wide range of use cases suitable to Indian requirements. We believe the new Indian Army contract is just a beginning for large-scale adoption of UAVs across security, surveillance, mapping for defense, industrial and agricultural applications in India. COVID has also accelerated the adoption and use of drones for various new use cases in urban areas. It is indeed a pleasure to be associated with such a deep tech company and help our country advance further in the Atmanirbhar initiative in a sunrise sector," added Ankur Bansal, director, BlackSoil Capital.
With more than 15 years of R&D and multiple patents in the Indian and International market, the company has created a robust product line that is gaining traction in the Indian market. The company has a wide range of customizable products for various applications and has applied for over 20 patents in the Indian and International markets. The company has so far deployed more than 1,000 drones since its inception, the company said.
