IPO-Bound Drone Startup ideaForge Posts INR 45.2 Cr Profit In H1 FY23

IPO-bound ideaForge posted a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 45.2 Cr in the first half of the financial year 2022-23 (H1 FY23) as against a loss of INR 20.73 Cr in the corresponding period of the previous year, as per the Mumbai-based dronetech startup’s draft red herring documents (DRHP). 

Revenue from operations surged 14.5X to INR 139.55 Cr in H1FY23 from INR 9.60 Cr in the year-ago period.

ideaForge filed the DRHP for its initial public offer (IPO) earlier this week. The public issue will comprise a fresh issue of INR 30 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) of 48.7 Lakh equity shares.

Meanwhile, ideaForge’s total expenses rose 2.5X to INR 83.95 Cr in the first half of FY23 from INR 33.43 Cr in H1 FY22. 

The biggest expense for the dronetech startup was the INR 34.74 it spent on procuring materials during the first half of FY23. The cost of materials consumed tripled YoY in H1FY23 compared to INR 11.62 Cr in the corresponding period last year.

At INR 23.81 Cr, employee benefits expense was the second-largest expenditure, rising 2.1X from INR 11.21 Cr in H1 FY22.

Other expenses rose 1.8X to INR 15.52 Cr from INR 8.41 Cr in the first half of FY22. However, the startup didn’t provide a breakdown of other expenses.

In terms of unit economics, the drone manufacturing startup spent INR 0.6 to earn every INR 1 from operations in H1FY23.

ideaForge’s FY22 performance also reflects a similar story, as the IPO-bound startup hit profitability for the first time. ideaForge posted a profit of INR 50.18 Cr in FY22 as against a loss of INR 14.50 Cr in FY21. 

Interestingly, ideaForge was in a loss in the first half of FY22, having notched up an operating revenue of only INR 9.60 Cr during that time. However, its revenue from operations surged to INR 159.44 Cr by the end of the fiscal year, up 4.6X from INR 34.72 Cr in FY21.

Similarly, the IPO-bound startup’s total expenses grew 2.2X to INR 111.27 Cr in FY22 from INR 50.84 Cr in FY21.

Founded in 2007 by Ankit Mehta, Ashish Bhat, Rahul Singh and Vipul Joshi, ideaForge manufactures drones for both civilian and military applications. It has raised a total funding of $38.4 Mn to date and is backed by the likes of Infosys and Qualcomm.

It counts the likes of the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force, BSF, NSG, CRPF, Adani, Larsen & Toubro, Indian Oil, and the Indian Railways among its clients.

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