Mumbai-based Drone maker ideaForge Technology is the pioneer and the pre-eminent market leader in the Indian unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”) market, with a market share of approximately 50% in fiscal 2022 has fixed the price band at ₹638 to ₹672 per Equity Share for its maiden public offer. The initial public offering (“IPO” or “Offer”) of the Company will open on Monday, 26 June, 2023, for subscription and closes on Thursday, 29 June, 2023. Investors can bid for a minimum of 22 Equity Shares and in multiples of 22 Equity Shares thereafter.
The public issue with a face value of Rs 10 per equity share comprises of Rs 240 crore of fresh issue and an offer for sale of 4,869,712 equity shares. The offer also includes a reservation for a subscription by eligible employees.
On June 15, 2023, the company, in consultation with the lead bankers to the issue, raised Rs 60 crore in a Pre-IPO placement from institutional investors, including Tata AIG General Insurance, 360 ONE Special Opportunities Fund- Series 9 and 10, Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund, and Think Investments PCC, a foreign institutional investor.
The proceeds from its fresh issuance to the tune of Rs. 50 crore will be utilised for repayment / prepayment of certain indebtedness availed by the Company, Rs 135 towards funding working capital gap, Rs 40 crore for investment in product development and general corporate purposes.
The Company through its IPO will fetch Rs 550.69 crore – Rs 567.24 crore at the lower and upper end of the price band.
ideaForge Technology has been backed by several marquee ventures and private equity investors including Qualcomm Asia, Infosys, and Celesta Capital. Mathew Cyriac backed Florintree Enterprises is the single largest shareholder in the company with approximately 11.85% stake had invested in the company in April 2022.
The Mumbai-based company had the largest operational deployment of indigenous UAVs across India, with its drone manufactured taking off every five minutes on average for surveillance and mapping. It is one of the few original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) in the world that have its own exclusive autopilot sub-system and ground control software and takes full integration of its payloads, communication system and packaging.
Founded in 2007 and led by first generation entrepreneurs, ideaForge, has a first mover advange and primarily caters to customers with applications for surveillance, mapping and surveying. Its customers include the armed forces, central armed police forces, state police departments, disaster management forces, forest departments besides other civil customers.
Having more than a decade of experience in operationalizing UAVs, it is one of the first few companies in India to enter the UAV market and stands 7th globally in the dual use category i.e civil and defence as per the report published by Drone Industry Insights in December 2022. It plans to expand its offerings and operations to Bangladesh, Vietnam and Nepal
The Company was incubated by the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (“SINE”), IIT Bombay and subsequently by CIIE Initiatives, IIM Ahmedabad. As on June 17,2023 it had 25 patents granted and 37 patents pending.
ideaForge had an outstanding order book of Rs 192.27 crore as on March 31, 2023.
The drones ideaForge currently manufactures Middle Mile drones which are differentiated basis weight, endurance, take off altitude range, communication range as well as the kind of payload it is supposed to carry. Switch UAV, Netra V4+ and V4 PRO UAV, Q6 UAV, Ninja UAV, Q4i UAV, and Ryno UAV are examples of ideaForge drones that are rugged unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have been tested in extreme weather conditions and high altitudes across India from deserts to glaciers and offers the highest technical life of 2,000+ landings. It plans to expand its product portfolio to Tactical UAVs and Last Mile Logistic drone too.
Comparing the last 2 fiscals, its revenue from operations increased by 16.66% from ₹159.44 crore in the Fiscal 2022 to ₹186.01 crore in the Fiscal 2023, whereas profit after tax stood at Rs 31.99 crore in Fiscal 2023.
JM Financial Limited and IIFL Securities Limited are the book running lead managers and Link Intime India Private Limited is the registrar for the issue.
Notes for Reference :
Issue Size of the IPO based on the upper and lower end of the price band
| Fresh | OFS (48,69,712 equity shares) | Total | |
| Lower Band (@638) | Rs 240 crore | Rs 310.69 crore | Rs 550.69 crore |
| Upper Band (@672) | Rs 240 crore | Rs 327.24 crore | Rs 567.24 crore |
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