ideaForge Technology Limited is an Indian unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) manufacturer established in 2007 in Mumbai, India.[2]
In December 2023, ideaForge ranked 5th in the dual use category that is civil and defence as per the report published by Drone Industry Insights (7th in December 2022).[3]
History
ideaForge was established in 2007 in Mumbai by IIT Bombay graduates, Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh and Ashish Bhat.[4][5]
In 2009, it launched its first autonomous micro unmanned aerial vehicles with a quadrotor configuration.[6]
In July 2023, the company raised ₹255 crore (US$30 million) from 31 anchor investors by allocating 37.92 lakh equity shares to anchor investors.[7] It opened its initial public offering (IPO) with an Offer For Sale (OFS) of ₹567 crore (US$66 million) comprised with ₹240 crore fresh issue and ₹327 crore by promoters and investors up to 48.69 lakh equity shares worth in BSE & NSE on 7 July 2023.[8][9][10] The IPO gained a premium of 94% to the issue price of ₹1,296 on the opening day.[11][12]
In 2024, the ideaForge partnered with Skylark Labs, a US based Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions company to integrate self-evolving drones AI capabilities for public safety and security applications. It will help drones autonomously detect and identify suspicious weapons, persons, vehicles, fires, and smoke in real-time.[13]
Products and services
The company manufactures drones for mapping, security, and surveillance applications[14] assisting defence forces in conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations along borders.[15] The company majorly caters to the central armed police forces, armed forces, state police departments, forest departments, disaster management forces, and civil customers.[16]
DRDO Netra - jointly developed by the Research and Development Establishment (R&DE)[17]
Switch UAV, Netra V4 UAV, Q6 UAV, Ninja UAV, Q4i UAV, and Ryno UAV products specialised with in extreme temperatures (-20°C to +50°C), marine environment, dusty weather conditions and high humidity.[18]
In 2023, the company has indigenously developed Fixed-wing VTOL UAV - SWITCH UAV that can fly at diverse terrains and harsh environments, ranging from -30 °C to +55 °C for a variety of security and surveillance applications.[20]
References
^"Leadership". ideaForge Technology official website. Retrieved 31 December 2023.