Drone tech start-up AUS signs Rs 3.75 cr lease financing deal with Grip

Grip and AUS have entered a deal that allows retail investors to invest in India's growing drone market

Alternative investment platform Grip and Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS) have entered a lease financing deal worth Rs 3.75 crore that paves the way for retail investors to invest in the drone ecosystem in India.

Through this, Grip said it is trying to unlock a new revenue stream for promising businesses in India’s drone segment by leveraging lease financing options. Under the agreement, Grip will enable AUS to build new revenue streams by leveraging lease financing for more than 50 drones.

AUS  was established in 2013 and has so far has mapped more than 5 million acres, 15000 villages and 35 cities. It has further covered more than 250 mines and 350 stockyards for mining, metal, and power companies like Tata Steel, Hindalco, and Coal India, etc.

Nikhil Aggarwal, CEO & Founder, Grip, said, “India's commercial drone market has grown leaps and bounds in the past few years witnessing growing adoption across several verticals such as mining, filming & photography, and agriculture in the country. We’re excited to facilitate a first-of-its-kind lease financing deal to help scale India’s drone segment.”

AUS offers end-to-end integrated solutions for drone applications, providing the drone, an operator and a cloud platform for data analysis. The company claims to be profitable and has seen growth in revenues of up to  250 per cent annually for the past 3 years. It is one of the three companies whose drones have been shortlisted to map India’s 600,000 villages by the government.

Vipul Singh, CEO and co-founder of AUS, said, “Drones are fast becoming a vehicle of development and financial inclusion in India. Our drones are making an impact on some of the largest mining and metal brands and large-scale infrastructure players in India”.

India’s drone segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.4 per cent till 2025 and reach a value of $5 billion. Mapping and surveying hold the majority of revenue share due to the high accuracy and quality provided by such drones with relatively less manpower and lower costs,  according to experts.

Additionally, government initiatives such as the Make in India, which promote the domestic manufacturing of drones, are fuelling the growth of the commercial drone market in India.