Marque investors, mkt mavens pick stakes in DroneAcharya

Mumbai: Marque investors led by Shankar Sharma have participated in DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations pre-IPO. Marque investors led by Shankar Sharma and other well-known market mavens and celebrities have picked a minority stake in DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Shankar Sharma says: "Given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to make India a global drone hub, we have invested in drone services and pilot training start-up Droneacharya. Further, drones are being widely used in the country across industries for surveys, deliveries and surveillance, and this segment is expected to perform strongly in the coming years. We see a great value creation as the company has within a very short span been able to scale up its operations and has dynamic plans ahead."

Pune-headquartered firm is India's first integrated drone ecosystem start-up to set out for an initial public offer for listing on BSE SME Exchange. The Company has recently filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for its initial public offering to offer 62.90 lakh Equity Shares of Rs10 each through the book-building route. The book-running lead manager to the issue is Corporate Capital Ventures. Besides Shankar Sharma, Mangina Srinivas Rao (previously associated with ITC e-Chaupal and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, India) also took a stake in the company. In addition, a few angel investors, including Jay Vishwanathan, VC Kartik and Samit Bhartia, have also invested in the company. Jay Vishwanathan is amongst the early pioneers of private equity in India, while Samit Bhartia is the brother of Amit Bhartia, an ex-Partner at GMO. Other key investors include Harshal Morde, an angel investor in media and

entertainment-focused start-ups, and Ashish Nanda, Founder & Managing Director of Innovations Group, a UAE-based business conglomerate.

Nikhil Chawla and Vivek Chandaria promoted Switzerland-based Wollstone Capital, and Bollywood celebrities - Amir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor also picked up a stake in the company in the Pre-IPO round. Corporate Capital Ventures (CCV), the lead manager to the forthcoming public offering, has played a crucial role in facilitating these investments. Recently, DroneAcharya Aerial announced its plans to acquire 100-plus new drones as a part of its expansion plan. Further, the company plans to train 500 plus pilots and 25 instructors annually starting in 2023.

Prateek Srivastava, Founder & Managing Director DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations commented on the initiatives, said: "Being a 40-plus people team, we are now embarking on a 2.0 vision of growth and value creation – with our listing plans and investment plans fortified. We are proud to be the first drone start-up in India to aim for listing and take the drone ecosystem in the country to the next level in the future."

DroneAcharya AI was one of the first private players to receive a DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) certified RPTO (Remote Pilot Training Organization) license in 2022. Since March, the company has trained more than 180 drone pilots. The company has rolled out several

concise and industry-relevant Drone and GIS courses designed to upskill and empower young Indians to build a new-age career within the drone ecosystem. The company wishes to manufacture customised 100 per cent indigenous drones and offers land and underwater surveying services, which include Powerlines & Utilities, Oil & Gas Infrastructure, Mines and Quarries, Energy & Renewables, Roads & Highways, Urban & Rural Planning, Agriculture & Irrigation, Underwater Inspection, and Underwater Bathymetry. The company's courses include

Drone Pilot Training, GIS for Drones, Python coding, Drone Building, Aeromodelling for Kids, Drone Racing and industry-specific courses for Agriculture and Disaster Management. The company also signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Rashtriya Raksha University, Tata Strive, Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited, etc. and working towards introducing a dedicated curriculum for aspiring future professionals in the rapidly evolving drone services and solutions industry. The company also plans to expand its training operations beyond Pune to Mumbai, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Dehradun, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Kolhapur.