The defense industry was taken aback when the Indian drone firm Raphe mPhibr raised $100 million in an all-equity Series B financing led by General Catalyst. This significant budget boost comes as India ramps up drone deployment in the wake of the last India-Pakistan war, which caused a sharp increase in the use of drones on battlefields. Spending on drones has been quadrupled by the government to $470 million over the next 12 to 14 months. To fulfill this growing demand, Raphe mPhibr, which now provides services to the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, and paramilitary forces, intends to quickly expand its research and production capacity.
With a small 2,000-square-foot research lab, the Indian drone firm got its start in 2017. It has since expanded into a 650,000-square-foot combined manufacturing and research and development complex. While attending Georgia Tech and MIT in 2016, co-founders Vikash and Vivek Mishra came up with the concept. “We have opposed technology transfer from the beginning,” Vivek Mishra told TechCrunch. All of the main drone parts, including as flight controllers, batteries, carbon fiber bodies, wire harnesses, and navigation systems, are made domestically by the firm. Raphe mPhibr only imports expensive cameras and radars, but within 18 months, it intends to start producing them internally.
The Indian drone startup is gaining tactical benefits in contemporary warfare by utilizing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence. Its drones have AI-powered object identification, adaptive frequency switching to thwart electronic warfare, and autonomous swarm intelligence for decentralized decision-making. There are now nine drone variants available from Raphe mPhibr, ranging from the lightweight Bharat for rapid terrain observation to the mR10 operational swarm. With ranges of 12 to 124 miles, payloads vary from 4.4 to 441 pounds. The firm has sold more than 300 drones in the last 12 months and has seen a four-fold increase in income in only four years.
Also check:- To build fighter jet engines, India seeks partners beyond the US
The drone startup from India is expanding outside the Indian market. Raphe mPhibr has partnered with leading defense companies around the world, such as Germany’s Hensoldt and France’s Safran and Dassault Systèmes, to jointly create cutting-edge sensors and simulation software. The business is in high-level talks with a number of foreign defense organizations and has already obtained a few export licenses. According to Vivek, “very advanced talks are happening with a few government agencies across the world.” Raphe mPhibr is preparing for an IPO in two to five years and hopes to begin international deliveries this year.
