Drone Roundup: Major Stories on Destinations, IdeaForge IPOs, and More

The past few weeks have been quite eventful in the drone industry. Several companies made headlines for various reasons such as going public, making acquisitions, and receiving orders. Let's take a look at some of the significant drone stories during this period.

According to a report from EnTracker, a startup called Inside FPV, which manufactures drones, recently secured funding of Rs 2.75 crores in a seed round. The investment was led by Inflection Point Ventures on July 6. Inside FPV plans to use the funds for product development, marketing, and research.

Drone Destination, a remote pilot training organization, is scheduled to go public on July 7. The company provides training programs for drone pilots and has partnered with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to offer joint certification on various drone-related courses through NSDC's Skill India Portal. Drone Destination aims to issue 68,00,000 equity shares at a face value of Rs.10. The funds raised will be utilized for purchasing new drones, vehicles for surveying and mapping, meeting working capital requirements, and general corporate purposes.

On July 5, Garuda Aerospace announced that it received an order for 400 Agri Kisan drones from the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO). These drones are designed for agricultural purposes and will assist in monitoring crop growth and optimizing agriculture operations through sensors and digital imaging capabilities. IFFCO plans to use these drones for spraying nano urea and nano DAP fertilizers. Additionally, the cooperative intends to employ 5,000 rural entrepreneurs to create the spray solutions for use alongside the drones.

Coromandel International, an agricultural product manufacturer, recently acquired an additional 32.68% equity stake in Dhaksha Unmanned Systems for Rs. 204 crores. This acquisition brings Coromandel's total stake in Daksha to 51%, making it the majority shareholder. Dhaksha is the first company in India to obtain DGCA Type Certification for the commercial sale of three different drone models: Agri-Hybrid, Agri-Electric, and Surveillance drones. With the Indian government's decision to liberalize drone exports for civilian use, Coromandel International believes Dhaksha will benefit from this opportunity.

IdeaForge, a drone company, went public on June 26. As per reports, it was subscribed more than 100 times since 2022, with total bids worth Rs. 33,000 crore received between June 26 and June 30.

Stay informed with our daily newsletter, delivering the top tech news stories from MediaNama to your inbox before 9 AM. Sign up today by clicking here!