ideaForge Technology Limited IPO

ideaForge Technology is a market leader in the Indian unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) market, with a market share of approximately 50% in fiscal 2022. The company had the largest operational deployment of indigenous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across India, with an ideaForge manufactured drone taking off every five minutes on average for surveillance and mapping as of fiscal 2023.

The company has been ranked 7th globally in the dual-use category (civil and defence) drone manufacturers as per the report published by Drone Industry Insights in December 2022. The company has grown at a CAGR of 131.47% in terms of revenue from operations in the last three fiscals, with a Return on Capital Employed of 12.51% in fiscal 2023.

The company is one of the few original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) globally to have its own proprietary autopilot sub-system and ground control software. The company has filed 41 patent applications, which comprise of 20 applications filed internationally and 21 patent applications filed in India, as on June 17, 2023.

The company’s product portfolio consists of hardware, which primarily includes UAVs, payloads, batteries, chargers and communication system, which enables communication between the ground control station and the UAVs. The portfolio also consists of software and embedded sub-systems, which includes the GCS software — BlueFire Touch — that enables the controlling and management for our UAVs and autopilot sub-system. The company also offers solutions which enables industry/ application specific software that enhances the value of their UAVs to the end customer.

The company has a manufacturing facility in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, that has an area of approximately 21,000 sq. ft., and is equipped with advanced equipment, modern technology with automation systems and has the ability to manufacture a wide range of products.

The company has raised funding from various investors including Infosys Limited, Qualcomm Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Celesta Capital II Mauritius, Celesta Capital II-B Mauritius, Florintree Enterprise LLP, Export Import Bank of India and Infina Finance Private Limited over the years.

The company in its red herring prospectus said that it faces competition from companies such as Asteria Aerospace Private Limited, DCM Shriram Limited, Adani Defence and Aerospace (Adani Enterprises Limited), as well as other international companies such as Lockheed Martin Corporation and Autel Robotics Corp., which operate in the same line of business as ideaForge and offer similar products. Some of its peers are Hindustan Aeronautics, Bharat Electronics , MTAR Technologies, Astra Microwave Products, and Data Patterns.