The funds will be used for meeting the working capital requirements of the company to service its large order book.
2nd March 2021: ideaForge, a homegrown UAV manufacturer backed by WRVI Capital, Qualcomm and Infosys has raised INR 15 Crs from BlackSoil. The company has recently received a USD 20 Mn order from Indian Army.
ideaForge had recently announced a USD 20 Mn order from the Indian Army for its SWITCH UAVs. SWITCH is a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) with advanced capabilities of operating at high altitudes and difficult climatic conditions for day and night surveillance.
ideaForge serves a number of homeland and security agencies in the country and has its product portfolio of drones that have been developed keeping in mind the use cases relevant to India. The company has raised funds from US Based WRVI Capital, and blue-chip companies like Qualcomm and Infosys. With more than 15 years of R&D and multiple patents in Indian and International market, the company has created a robust product line that is gaining traction in the Indian market. The company has a wide range of customizable products for various applications and has applied for 20+ patents in the Indian and International markets. The company has so far deployed more than 1,000 drones since its inception.
Speaking on the development Ankit Mehta, Co-Founder, and CEO of ideaForge said, “We are pleased to have Blacksoil as our partner, the time of the funding is opportune as we expect strong growth in our product pipeline. The funds, along with recent fundraise from Infosys and other investors will support ideaForge in the execution of our burgeoning order book, and we hope to build on this relationship & catapult the company into the next phase of growth.”
“ideaForge has created a robust line of drones backed by best in class hardware & software capabilities. Their products are best suited for Indian enterprise customers and solve for a wide range of use cases suitable to Indian requirements. We believe the new Indian Army contract is just a beginning for large-scale adoption of UAVs across security, surveillance, mapping for Defence, Industrial and Agricultural applications in India. Covid has also accelerated the adoption and use of drones for various new use cases in urban areas. It is indeed a pleasure to be associated with such a deep tech company and help our country advance further in the Atmanirbhar initiative in a sunrise sector” said Ankur Bansal, Director, BlackSoil Capital.
BlackSoil’s alternative credit platform has successfully concluded over 50 debt transactions to VC-backed growth companies/startups by deploying more than INR 500 Crs in the past 4.5 years.
BlackSoil is a sector agnostic alternative credit platform & has deployed INR 1,000 Crore in the last 4 years across 80+ transactions. It’s past deals include OYO, Spinny, Purplle, Zetwerks, Vogo and TVF amongst others. Blacksoil has recently raised INR 126 Crores for the first close for its maiden secured Credit Fund. Aviom is the second disbursement through this Credit Fund.
Source: Business World
