Raphe mPhibr Raises $100 Million: All You Need To Know About Noida-Based Drone Startup

Raphe mPhibr, a Noida-based unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) startup, has raised $100 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst. The startup has secured a total of $145 million (over Rs 1,200 crore), marking the largest funding round ever achieved by an Indian aerospace manufacturer.

Drones developed by Raphe mPhibr were used in Operation Sindoor.

Speaking to NDTV on the development, CEO Vivek Mishra emphasised building a strong design-to-manufacturing ecosystem to outpace China in drone technology. 

"For one of our long-endurance drones, we needed an internal combustion engine. Anything existing in the market would be either too expensive or too heavy, or would not meet performance (parameters). So we decided that we would design and manufacture the internal combustion engine here," Mishra said.

"And we were able to do it. This was India's first design of an internal combustion engine. The goal was not to recreate anything, but to reduce size, weight, increase performance, and attune it to the requirement for the UAV and hence the user," he added.

Raphe mPhibr gained prominence during India’s 'Operation Sindoor', with its drones used by the Indian armed forces for striking Pakistani targets in May in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Growing military interest and national security concerns, including a pending Army order, position the Noida-based firm to boost its indigenous drone capabilities.

The CEO highlighted that they had been quietly building capabilities for nearly a decade, focusing on end-to-end research and manufacturing of drones, including structures, electronics, composites, software and other subsystems entirely in India.

"This was our Series B round, where we raised $100 million, led by General Catalyst. A lot of our existing investors, like Amal Parekh and Think Investment, also pitched in for this round. We started almost a decade ago and this was a major (funding) round that we did to support the increase in capacity for our research and manufacturing," Mishra told NDTV.

With this funding, he said, the company will deepen research across all aspects of drone technology, enhance indigenous manufacturing capabilities.