Funding
Zuppa raises $1.5 million bridge round
By Startup Enthusiast ·
- Date
- Company
- Zuppa
- What it does
- Defence drone startup
- Kind
- Funding
- Amount
- $1.5 million
- Stage
- Bridge
- Based in
- Chennai
- Founded
- 2008
What they do
Zuppa raised $1.5 million in a bridge round led by entrepreneur Rahul Dewan, founder of Srijan Technologies
What happened
Ajay Gupta of Capital Foods and the Mangwani Family Office also joined the round
Why it matters
The money will go into research and a stronger push in defence and dual-use drone technology
The details
- The $1.5 million bridge round (short-term funding between larger rounds) closed in July 2025.
- Rahul Dewan led it.
- Funds go to R&D and defence and dual-use drones.
- Zuppa builds flight control, vision guidance and secure stacks that work without GPS.
Investors
About Zuppa
- Product
- Cyber-secure drones, autopilots, and autonomous navigation systems
- Customers
- The Indian Armed Forces, defense agencies, and commercial enterprises requiring secure unmanned systems
- How it makes money
- Designs, manufactures, and sells indigenous cyber-secure drones, autopilot hardware, and navigation software
- What sets it apart
- Offers entirely homegrown, cyber-secure autopilot and navigation systems that operate without Chinese parts and function in GPS-denied environments
More on Zuppa
- Zuppa to train army drone pilots30 September 2026 · Partnership
- Zuppa plans equity raise of up to $10 million22 September 2026 · Funding · Up to $10 million
- Zuppa delivers over 500 Ajeet drones to Army13 April 2026 · News
- Indian defence tech startups gain momentum after Op Sindoor18 January 2026 · Analysis · ₹43 crore
- Zuppa and IISc set up drone research centre18 December 2025 · Partnership
- Zuppa teams with 3D printer maker on mobile drone units4 November 2025 · Partnership
- Zuppa, IIT Madras and Air Force sign research MoU3 October 2025 · Partnership
- Army opens drone repair lab with Zuppa19 June 2025 · Partnership