TechEagle Bags Funding To Offer Drone Deliveries To Ecommerce Platforms

Drone tech startup TechEagle has raised an undisclosed amount as part of its bridge funding round co-led by Navam Capital and Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). 

The round also saw participation from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Venture Catalysts, and a clutch of high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).

The startup will use the capital to expand its operations and launch higher payload drones for mid-mile and inter-city deliveries. 

“With the support of our investors, we aim to expand our operations across the country, enabling faster and more economical deliveries. This funding will fuel our efforts to launch higher payload drones for mid-mile and inter-city deliveries, further solidifying our position as a frontrunner in the drone logistics industry,” said TechEagle cofounder and CEO Vikram Singh Meena.

IPV’s cofounder and CEO Vinay Bansal added, “TechEagle’s innovative drones are set to revolutionize logistics accessibility in both urban and semi-urban areas… IPV is committed to supporting ventures like TechEagle to witness the positive impact of cutting-edge technology in the logistics industry”.

Founded in 2017 by IIT-Kanpur alumni Meena and Anshu Abhishek, TechEagle is a drone logistics startup that enables on-demand autonomous drone delivery for its clients. With a focus on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations, TechEagle caters to last-mile logistics in urban and semi-urban areas. 

Backed by BlueDart Express cofounder Tushar Jani and Gramin Healthcare founder Ajoy Khanderia, TechEagle last raised $500K in a seed funding round led by India Accelerator in 2021.

Its flagship product is Vertiplane X3, which claims to have a 100 km single-flight range, a payload capacity of 5 kg and a speed of up to 120 km/hr. TechEagle claims to have so far catered to names such as AIIMS, multiple state governments, Swiggy, Vodafone-Idea (Vi) and the World Bank.

It is pertinent to note that foodtech major Zomato had acquired the drone tech startup in 2018 but later cancelled the deal for undisclosed reasons. 

The fundraise comes at a time when more and more new-age tech startup companies are experimenting with drones to streamline deliveries. Earlier this month, listed logistics startup Delhivery announced the setting up of a new subsidiary to manufacture drones and provide freight air transportation services. 

Earlier this week, another logistics major Ecom Express said that it will commence a drone delivery pilot in the Delhi NCR-region, and will then expand it to Bengaluru and Chandigarh. Another drone startup Yali Aerospace also bagged an undisclosed amount of investment from SaaS giant Zoho earlier this week.

Buoyed by government push as well as the liberalisation drone rules, a slew of new startups have emerged in the Indian drone tech arena. The public market debut of two drone startups namely DroneAcharya and ideaForge in the last couple of years has also given a major boost to the ecosystem and the adoption of UAVs. 

Inc42 estimates that India is home to over 200 drone tech startups that have together bagged more than 140 Mn in investment between 2014 and 2023. As per an Inc42 report, the homegrown drone market is expected to surge to a size of $13 Bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21% between 2022 and 2030.

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