Qualcomm-backed drone maker plans Rs750-cr IPO

Investment banks JM Financial and IIFL are the lead managers for the IPO. A DRHP has been filed on Friday and the IPO will be launched by May 2023, said sources.

At present, investors own about 70% stake in IdeaForge Technology and promoters own the rest. Mail sent to the company spokesperson did not elicit any responses.

Founded in 2007 by IIT Bombay alumni Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, Ashish Bhat, and Vipul Joshi, ideaForge is engaged in the security operations segment as the first India-based organization to develop and manufacture Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs. In addition to the US, ideaForge has also expanded beyond India to Oman, Nigeria, and Bhutan.

The Mumbai based IdeaForge makes drones for India’s armed forces, police and homeland security as well as industrial applications. IdeaForge has the license from the Ministry of Defence to manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles.

In April 2022, IdeaForge had raised $20 million in a funding round led by Florintree, which is headed by Mathew Cyriac, former MD of Blackstone India. The round also saw participation from existing investors including Celesta, Infosys, Qualcomm and Infina.

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Companies looking to raise money through initial public offerings (IPOs) are finding it challenging to hit the market, as diminished investor appetite and an uncertain market outlook has forced many of them to defer fundraising plans through this route.In the past six months, 27 companies with IPO plans worth ₹38,000 crore have allowed their regulatory approvals to lapse, according to Prime Database numbers. Similarly, the permissions to another nine firms planning to raise a total of ₹15,000 crore are set to expire over the next two months, ET reported last month.