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Garuda Aerospace, the firm backed by cricketing legend M.S. Dhoni, has raised a total sum of $33.4 million. The amount was raised through eight rounds of equity funding and brought the valuation of the startup up to a whopping $255 million on August 24, 2024.
Dhoni is associated with Garuda Aerospace since 2022, an association that got leveraged when he partnered with the startup right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to get 100 drones active across 100 locations in India. After this association, Garuda Aerospace has seen a great surge in revenue and thus doing fine – a testament to the fact that Dhoni’s association was not negative.
Dhoni is proud to be part of the journey as Garuda is targeting the revolutionizing sectors like agriculture, defense, industry 4.0, and consumer drones. He works as the brand ambassador and stakeholder of Garuda Aerospace to reflect his commitment towards innovation and progress in the drone world.
One of the inspirations of the team is Dhoni. He gives everyone support and encouragement to work at their best to produce quality work,” said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace.
Garuda Aerospace has also signed international collaborations with companies such as Spirit Aeronautics (Greece), Agrowing (Israel), and Thales (France). Such collaboration will reduce costs and generate job opportunities for the people of that community by considering technology transfer and local manufacturing.
In the wake of entering the defense drone market, Garuda aims to position itself as a company that specializes in defense technology and become the most important player in the market within two years. The startup will likely focus on the production of military application drones; it is indeed an affirmation of its effort in striving for innovation and progress in the drone industry.
In short, Garuda Aerospace, backed by M.S. Dhoni, secures $33.4 million funding to propel India into a drone hub by 2030. The vision of making India a drone hub by 2030 merges with the huge plans presented at Garuda Aerospace, backed and administered under Dhoni’s leadership, and collaborations coming from all team members. Strategic funding, a commitment to technological excellence, and the vision to transform the drone industry will propel Garuda Aerospace toward creating an era of a high-rise prominence in the global drone market for India.
