DroneAcharya Partners With Robotics Company Gridbots To Begin Drone Manufacturing

Listed drone startup DroneAcharya on Monday (February 27) said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gujarat-based robotics company Gridbots Technologies to enter the drone manufacturing space.

Besides manufacturing, the partnership will help DroneAcharya develop products and new technologies, cross-sell products and services, and share technology, knowledge, network, and resources for projects, the startup said in an exchange filing.

“Through this collaboration, DroneAcharya will be starting a new business vertical i.e., of manufacturing drones. For this purpose, DroneAcharya will be setting up its own manufacturing unit in the city of Pune…,” it added.

In an interaction with Inc42 recently, DroneAcharya founder and MD Prateek Srivastava shared the startup’s plans to foray into the drone manufacturing space. He said that the startup was looking to manufacture four to five products and roll them out by April this year.

DroneAcharya, which began its operations with a focus on pilot training, planned to manufacture drone-in-a-box solutions and underground and underwater drones first, Srivastava added.

With the new partnership, DroneAcharya said it aims to leverage the expertise of Gridbots to expand its reach and build solutions that can not only provide aerial coverage through drones but also develop solutions for industrial automation, defence, oil and gas industries, and more.

The collaboration will enable both the companies to offer a wider range of products tailored to the unique needs of their customers, it added.

Ahmedabad-based Gridbots, founded in 2007, specialises in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine vision. Meanwhile, DroneAcharya was founded in 2017 and claims to have trained over 600 students in DGCA-certified drone pilot training, GIS, Python, and drone building, among other courses.

“We strive to adhere to the Make In India policies…Therefore, partnering with Gridbots has been one of the key developments for expanding our multitude of services,” said Srivastava in a statement.

Backed by the likes of Shankar Sharma, Harshal Mode, Aamir Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor, DroneAcharya got listed on the BSE SME exchange in December 2022 at nearly a 90% premium to its issue price. 

Currently, DroneAcharya shares are trading 45% higher than their listing price of INR 102. The shares ended Monday’s session 4.6% lower at INR 148.