Hyderabad-based drone startup Marut Dronetech has raised $6.2 million in Series A funding from investment firm Lok Capital. The company, founded in 2019 by IIT alumni Prem Kumar Vislawath, Suraj Peddi, and Sai Kumar Chinthala, currently has over 200 employees, a fleet of 750 drones, and more than 1,000 drone pilots operating across 14 states in India. Marut Drones has made significant progress in utilizing drones for agriculture and healthcare.
The startup gained attention for delivering COVID-19 vaccines to remote areas during the pandemic and has shown effectiveness in farm operations, large-scale seeding, and mosquito control. The company’s technology has also been extensively used in agricultural applications, leading to increased productivity and reduced input costs for farmers. The newly acquired funds will be used to enhance manufacturing capacity to 3,000 drones per annum, develop advanced agricultural drones, expand the company’s service network into Tier 2 and 3 cities, establish drone agriculture service hubs offering Drone-as-a-Service, promote drone entrepreneurship, and launch 17 new drone academies to train skilled professionals.
Marut Dronetech’s expansion and impact
CEO Prem Kumar Vislawath stated, “The significant investment reinforces Marut Drones’ commitment to empowering Indian farmers and developing applications for aggregating drone-based services across sectors. The fresh capital will also enable us to build our team and increase capacity.”
Hari Krishnan, Director at Lok Capital, expressed confidence in the partnership, noting that the investment would support Marut Dronetech’s market expansion, technological innovation, and indigenous manufacturing efforts.
Marut Drones aims to achieve a revenue target of Rs 1000 crore in the next five years and is exploring applications in disaster management and surveillance, positioning itself as a comprehensive drone technology provider. The company’s impact goes beyond individual farmers, contributing to economic growth in Tier 2 and 3 cities and promoting entrepreneurship and financial independence within rural communities. Marut’s AG365H drone, India’s first DGCA Type Certified medium category multi-utility agricultural and fish-feeding drone, was recently inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the Minister of Civil Aviation of India.
Lok Capital, established in 2004, focuses on investments in financial services, fintech, food and agriculture, climate and sustainability, and healthcare sectors in India.
