Drone Startup Yali Aerospace Bags Funding From Zoho To Deliver Medical Commodities

Tamil Nadu-based drone startup Yali Aerospace has bagged an undisclosed amount of investment from SaaS giant Zoho to accelerate the development and deployment of its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones.

Founded in 2022 by husband-wife duo Dinesh Baluraj and Anugraha, Yali Aerospace manufactures VTOL drones with an aim to transform healthcare delivery, especially in rural India. The startup also claims to manufacture autonomous docking stations and other drone subsystems, including flight controllers and navigation systems in-house.

Speaking to Inc42, cofounder and CEO Baluraj said, “Our motto is to connect all the primary healthcare centres in rural areas to the government hospitals in cities to stop maternity deaths and deaths from snake bites.”

With its VTOL drones, Yali Aerospace aims to facilitate long-distance transportation of critical medical commodities such as organs, blood supplies, and other essential medical items. 

Commenting on the investment, Baluraj said Zoho cofounder Sridhar Vembu visited Yali Aerospace’s facility about four months ago and was impressed with the startup’s potential to leverage technology to transform healthcare services in rural areas. 

“His (Vembu’s) belief in our breakthrough capabilities is not just an endorsement of our technology but also a strong testament to the potential we hold in making a substantial impact in the healthcare sector,” Yali Aerospace said in a statement.

Yali Aerospace’s current VTOL drone model comes with a 7 kg payload and 150 km per hour range.

The startup is aiming to start its first pilot project in September this year. Besides, it is also eyeing a Type certification for the drone in the next two months. The investment from Zoho will help it make progress towards this goal as it now needs to ramp up manufacturing to receive the certification.

Other than India, Yali Aerospace is also in talks for a few pilot projects in Africa.

As per Inc42’s analysis, India is home to over 200 drone tech startups that have together bagged more than 140 Mn in investment since 2014. The Indian drone market is expected to reach $13 Bn in size by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21% between 2022 and 2030.

Usage of drones is increasingly becoming mainstream in the logistics space – from healthcare to ecommerce. Yali Aerospace competes with the likes of Redwing Labs, Skye Air, and others.

Meanwhile, the investment by Zoho seems to be a part of the company’s efforts to diversify its offerings.  Earlier this year, Zoho launched a new business division, Zakya, in India, to help retail businesses with billing, accounting, ecommerce, mobile billing, mobile store, and back-office tasks.