ideaForge Shares Jump Nearly 8% As Co Plans To Enter The US Market

Shares of drone manufacturer ideaForge jumped nearly 8% to INR 786 during the intraday trading on the BSE on Friday (February 23) after PTI reported that the startup is set to enter the US market.

ideaForge CEO Ankit Mehta told the news agency in an interview that the startup showcased its products in the US market. It is entering the American market when there is a reluctance to buy or acquire drones made in China, he said.

Mehta also said that the Indian drone industry has “leapfrogged” in the last 10 years with an enabling environment from the Centre. 

He added that Indian drones are unique as they are built in “some of the harshest environments and the highest altitude requirements in the world”.

“With the operations being conducted in India at 6,000 metres plus altitude due to the various regions we have in our country in the Himalayas, to operate in extremely low temperatures like minus 30 degrees celsius and also looking at drones that can operate in deserts in Rajasthan,” Mehta noted. “So, we are essentially a country that has a very large number of terrain conditions and weather conditions we have to cater to when we are looking at drones. We also have a lot of use cases and applications that exist simultaneously in one place.”

Founded in 2007 by IIT Bombay graduates Mehta, Ashish Bhat, Rahul Singh, Vipul Joshi, and Amardeep Singh, ideaForge is one of the pioneering drone manufacturers and startups in the country. Its shares listed on the Indian bourses in July 2023.

In fact, its shares listed at a 94% premium to the issue price after its public issue was oversubscribed 106X.

However, shares of ideaForge witnessed a sharp decline post listing and are currently trading around 40% lower than the listing price of INR 1,305.10 on the BSE.

In its last reported quarter – Q3 FY24 – ideaForge posted a net profit of INR 14.8 Cr against a loss of INR 7.8 Cr in the last year’s quarter. Its operating revenue surged over 1,000% year-on-year to INR 90.9 Cr during the quarter.

While announcing its Q3 results, the startup said it had reached the prototyping stage for many new technology and product initiatives. Product demonstrations and training in the US with end customers and value added resellers (VARs) had also begun, it added.

Shares of ideaForge gave up some of the gains to end today’s trading session nearly 7% higher at INR 779.60 on the BSE.

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