Zuppa Secures $1.5 Million Bridge Round to Advance India-Made Defence Drones
The company's DJI-equivalent Ajeet Series of drones were recently validated by the Indian Army
Deeptech company Zuppa has successfully closed a $1.5 million bridge round to strengthen and expand Zuppa’s footprint in the key area of Defence drones.
This follows the INR 5 crores the company raised in May to scale the development of its Ajeet Mini drones.
Zuppa’s proprietary technology has already been deployed across varied use cases in Defence that include Secure drone Cyber Physical Stacks, Vision Guidance, AI-based targeting, to name a few.
“Entrepreneurs who understand scale, disruption, and product-market fit finding value in Zuppa’s deep-tech IP and its relevance in the drone-powered future of India is an endorsement of its unique position in the emerging tech space.” Sai Pattabiram, Founder & Managing Director, Zuppa, said.
Founded in Chennai, Zuppa has spent over a decade building robust fully indigenous flight control systems, navigation stacks, and autonomous drone capabilities—all engineered in-house. Their drone solutions are designed to operate in complex, real-world environments without reliance on GPS or high-bandwidth internet—a key differentiator in both Indian and emerging global markets.
The investment was led by Rahul Dewan—founder of global software engineering company and Sangam Talks includes Ajay Gupta, the founder of Capital foods and the Mangwani Family Office former owners of Aquapharm Chemicals Pvt Ltd, manufacturers of Specialty Chemicals.
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“We’re entering an exciting phase where AI and automation will drive next-gen drone capabilities. This funding allows us to build faster, deploy smarter, and expand our ecosystem with long-term vision and strategic clarity,” Venkatesh Sai, Co-Founder & Technical Director at Zuppa, said.
ZUPPA is also working with academic partners and government programmes to shape policy frameworks and tech standards for India's emerging drone economy.
The company's DJI-equivalent Ajeet Series of drones were recently validated by the Indian Army at multiple locations—including high-altitude zones above 11,000 feet—the Ajeet Mini is India’s first indigenous kamikaze/micro-armed drone platform.
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