Bengaluru-based drone start-up Aereo on July 19 announced that it has successfully closed a $15 million Series B funding round led by 360 One Asset. The round also saw participation of Aereo's existing partners such as StartupXseed Ventures and Navam Capital.
Vipul Singh, CEO of Aereo said that with this round of funds the company will be working on upgrading the scale and depth of intelligence that it provides through its various solutions.
"There will be a lot of work on the hardware and the software part. So, a good sum of the money we have raised will go into R&D and product development -- future product development. Another significant portion will go into business expansion, which will be both within India and overseas," Singh told Moneycontrol.
As part of other geographies, Aereo is looking to tap into markets such as Latin America, Central Africa, South East Asia, and so on.
"We are eyeing both developed and developing nations where we feel that the industry and the problem statements and the competitor landscape are highly favourable for us," Singh said.
The start-up founded in 2013 at IIT Kanpur has been working with with Tata Steel since 2019, aiding in the digitalisation of over 27 critical mines and stockyards. Apart from providing drone solutions, it also provides intelligence to its client with its AI-powered data analytics platform.
Over the past three years, Aereo has also been working on the SVATIMVA scheme, mapping over 45,000 villages and covering more than 50,000 sq. km of land area for the Digital India Land Record Modernization Program (DILRMP).
Singh also said that the company is looking to launch its Initial Public Offering within the next two to three years.
"IPO is certainly in the strategy, since we have been a profitable company for the past three and a half years. We have been EBITDA positive, and have been growing at about 70 percent annually since the past four years in terms of revenue. So, the trajectory is aligned with doing a successful IPO maybe 2-3 years down the line, when we have the reasonable top line," he said.
"That (IPO) is one of the major reasons why we have also chosen to very specifically partner with investors such as 360 One Asset, who can help us build a company that will prove successful on that trajectory," he added.
Apart from that, Singh said that the start-up is planning to hire 100 more personnel across various roles. "Strategic hirings are happening at senior management roles for improving our operations and processes and then we are also hiring in sales and engineering," he added. Currently, including drone pilots, the company has around 500 employees, he said.
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