Vayudh, a defence technology startup, has raised $10 million in a fresh funding round led by Dharana Capital. The round also saw participation from LetsVenture, Navam Capital and Florintree Advisors. Notable angel investors including, Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato (now Eternal); Ajay Aggarwal, Action TESA; and Sumit Jalan also participated.
The funds raised will be used to deepen its research and development (R&D) capabilities, expand manufacturing infrastructure, and accelerate deployments with India’s defence forces.
Tanmay Bunkar, CEO of Vayudh, said, “This funding marks a pivotal step in our journey to develop indigenous, cutting-edge defence drone technology of global standards. We remain focused on deepening our R&D pipeline and scaling manufacturing to meet growing demand from India’s defence sector.”
Vamsi Duvvuri, Founder & Managing Partner, Dharana Capital said, “India’s rising defence spend and push for indigenisation have opened a rare window to build world-class defence tech locally. The Vayudh team brings exceptional technical depth in drone technology – their swarming tech is field-tested, mission-ready, and built in India. We are excited to be part of their growth journey.”
Founded in 2016 by Tanmay Bunkar, Anuj Barnwal and Sarita Ahlawat, Vayudh, the defence vertical of BotLab Dynamics, is a startup from IIT Delhi, building indigenous drone platforms for real-time battlefield intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Vayudh has developed expertise in swarm drone technology, with over 300,000 autonomous flying hours in defence and other commercial applications like drone shows and industrial surveying. The company recently launched Atri, India’s first nano drone for precision surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
Botlabs Dynamics had earlier raised $4.02 million in 6 rounds of funding and generated a revenue of ₹38.4 cr in FY24. Past investors include Florintree Advisors and FITT, among others.
