Vayudh Raises USD 10 Mn Led by Dharana Capital to Boost Indigenous Defence Drone Innovation The freshly raised capital will be deployed to enhance Vayudh's R&D capabilities, scale its manufacturing infrastructure, and accelerate deployment of drone systems across India's defence forces.
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Defence tech startup Vayudh has raised USD 10 million in a funding round led by Dharana Capital, with participation from Deepinder Goyal (Founder and CEO, Eternal Ltd), Ajay Aggarwal (MD, Action TESA), Sumit Jalan, LetsVenture, and Navam Capital. The company had earlier secured funding from Florintree Advisors.
The freshly raised capital will be deployed to enhance Vayudh's R&D capabilities, scale its manufacturing infrastructure, and accelerate deployment of drone systems across India's defence forces.
"This funding marks a pivotal step in our journey to develop indigenous, cutting-edge defence drone technology of global standards," said Tanmay Bunkar, CEO and Co-founder of Vayudh. "We remain focused on deepening our R&D pipeline and scaling manufacturing to meet growing demand from India's defence sector."
Founded in 2016 by Tanmay Bunkar, Anuj Barnwal, and Dr Sarita Ahlawat, Vayudh operates as the defence vertical of BotLab Dynamics Private Limited, an IIT Delhi startup. The company is known for building indigenous drone platforms for real-time battlefield intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
Vayudh has made significant strides in swarm drone technology, amassing over 300,000 autonomous flying hours across defence and commercial use cases such as drone shows and industrial surveys. In 2023, it received the prestigious iDEX Grant for developing India's smallest surveillance drone. Recently, it unveiled Atri, India's first nano drone built for precision ISR operations in high-risk environments.
Vamsi Duvvuri, Founder and Managing Partner of Dharana Capital, commented, "India's rising defence spend and push for indigenization have opened a rare window to build world-class defence tech locally. The Vayudh team brings exceptional technical depth— their swarming tech is field-tested, mission-ready, and built in India."
Mathew Cyriac, Founder of Florintree Advisors, added, "What excites us is the team's deep technical rigour and relentless drive to address India's defence needs through home-grown intellectual property."
With strong investor backing and deep technical foundations, Vayudh is poised to become a key player in India's defence modernisation drive.
