Drone maker ideaForge has filed its draft red-herring prospectus (DRHP) with capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO will comprise of a fresh issue of Rs 300 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to 4.8 million shares. As per the preliminary papers, the offer also includes a reservation for a subscription by eligible employees.
ideaForge’s investors, including Celesta Capital, Qualcomm and Exim Bank of India, with Ashish Bhat, A&E Investment LLC, Agarwal Trademart, Indusage Partners and Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), are looking at partial exit through the IPO.
Celesta currently holds 13.35% stake in the firm, Qualcomm holds 3.79%, while Exim Bank owns 1.09%.
JM Financial Limited and IIFL Securities Limited are the book running lead managers to the issue.
ideaForge said it may consider issuing specialised securities for up to Rs 60 crore. In that case, the company will reduce the size of the fresh issue.
The company aims to deploy the proceeds from its fresh issuance to pare debt (Rs 50 crore), fund working capital requirements (Rs 135 crore) and product development as well as for general corporate purposes (Rs 40 crore).
Mumbai-based ideaForge, founded in 2007 by Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh, Ashish Bhat and Vipul Joshi, is a drone manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems for the defence sector, homeland security and enterprise customers. As stated in the DRHP, as of December 31, 2022, its client have used its UAVs for over 300,000 flights.
Last month, ideaForge had invested in electric propulsion technology provider Nautical Wings Aerospace for an undisclosed amount.
In April last year, it raised $20 million as part of its Series B funding round led by private equity firm Florintree Advisors. The round also saw participation from its existing investors Celesta Capital, Infosys, Qualcomm, and Infina, along with the Exim Bank of India.
As per its filing with SEBI, the drone-maker turned profitable in FY22 by clocking Rs 44.01 crore, and for the six months ended September 30, 2022, made a profit of Rs 45.21 crore. The firm’s revenue increased from Rs 34.72 crore in FY21 to Rs 159.44 crore in FY22, a 359.24% increase.