Airbound raises $8.65 million to scale low-cost drone logistics, partners with Narayana Health

The startup has signed a three-month pilot project with Narayana Health, under which it will conduct 10 daily drone deliveries of blood samples, test kits, and medical supplies.

Bengaluru-based autonomous logistics startup Airbound has raised $8.65 million in seed funding, led by Lachy Groom, cofounder of Physical Intelligence, with participation from Humba Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and senior executives from Tesla, Anduril, and Ather Energy, reported the Economic Times (ET).

Founded in 2023 by 20-year-old Naman Pushp, Airbound is developing drones built on a blended-wing-body design capable of both vertical takeoff and fixed-wing flight. Unlike conventional quadcopters, its tail-sitter aircraft takes off like a rocket and flies like a plane. Made from carbon fibre, the drones are lightweight yet highly efficient.

Pushp, who secured his first investment from Lightspeed Ventures in 2024, told ET that the aircraft achieves a 1.5:1 payload-to-aircraft mass ratio, making delivery costs up to 20 times lower than traditional logistics models. Airbound is awaiting DGCA approval to begin operations and plans to start with B2B partnerships.

The startup has signed a three-month pilot project with Narayana Health, under which it will conduct 10 daily drone deliveries of blood samples, test kits, and medical supplies. “While the rules for BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) flights are still evolving, our initial operations are within the Line of Sight regime,” Pushp told ET.

Pushp added that healthcare logistics offers the ideal testing ground for Airbound’s technology, which aims to reduce delivery costs from Rs 10 to as low as 10 paise. “Traditional logistics move around 150 kg of mass to deliver one kg of payload. Our aircraft moves just 2.5 kg per kg of payload. This design makes drone delivery scalable and affordable,” he said.

Airbound manufactures key components like propellers in-house to reduce costs and plans to expand beyond healthcare logistics by 2026. The startup eventually aims to integrate drone services with platforms like ONDC, allowing users to choose between bikes, vans, or drones depending on cost and speed.

With the latest round, Airbound has raised over $10 million to date, which it plans to use to scale manufacturing and expand operations across sectors.

Groom of Physical Intelligence said Airbound’s technology tackles both physics and economics challenges in drone delivery. “Their blended-wing-body design and manufacturing capabilities position them to achieve the cost efficiency needed to make drone delivery truly viable for a wide range of applications,” he told ET.

At present, most autonomous drone operations in India are concentrated in the Northeastern region under special permissions. Drone use cases largely remain in healthcare, agriculture, defence, and B2B logistics, with the regulatory framework still evolving.