In the wake of its combat deployment during Operation Sindoor, Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr has raised $100 million in a Series B funding round led by Silicon Valley investor General Catalyst, announced on 27 June 2025. This marks the largest private capital raise for an Indian aerospace manufacturer, signalling a turning point in India’s ambition for defence technology self-reliance amid heightened regional tensions. India’s Drone Moment: Op Sindoor and the Rise of Raphe mPhibr Raphe mPhibr, founded in 2017 by Vivek and Vikash Mishra, rose to prominence after its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were used in India’s retaliatory strikes on Pakistan in April 2025. The mission, codenamed Operation Sindoor, followed a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam which killed 26 tourists. Raphe’s armed drones were used for precision strikes on Pakistani targets. The successful field deployment spurred intense interest from the Indian armed forces. "We’ve just received an order for 450 suicide drones from a competitor, and more are in the pipeline for us as well," CEO Vivek Mishra told NDTV, underlining the company’s growing traction. Funding Milestone and Expansion Plans The fresh $100 million equity investment, part of a broader $145 million total raise, includes participation from returning investors Amal Parikh and Think Investments. This brings Raphe’s valuation to nearly $900 million, according to ET. The company will use the funds to expand its manufacturing footprint in Noida from 70,000 to 650,000 square feet, enabling it to produce up to 2,000 large and 4,000 small drones annually. General Catalyst MD Neeraj Arora praised the startup’s trajectory: “Their work is accelerating India’s path to strategic self-reliance and aligns with our Global Resilience thesis—building for a future that is secure, sovereign, and sustainable.” Indigenous Tech at the Core Raphe’s model centres on deep indigenous manufacturing. Mishra shared how the firm had to design and build India’s first UAV-specific internal combustion engine after no suitable global option existed. “We decided that we would design and manufacture the engine here. The goal was to reduce size and weight, increase performance, and attune it to UAV requirements,” he told NDTV. Every part of their drones—from software to electronics, composites, and structures—is developed in-house. “We have a unique manufacturing capability where state-of-the-art techniques and research exist under one roof,” he added. The startup also stands out in attracting Indian talent returning from overseas. “A lot of Indians who have returned from the US and Europe are working with us,” Mishra noted, citing excitement among young engineers to be part of India’s evolving defence tech landscape. Sector Outlook: Policy, Profit, and Procurement Raphe mPhibr was among 12 firms shortlisted under the Indian government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones in 2022. According to Tracxn, it posted Rs 86 crore in revenue and Rs 9 crore profit in FY24, more than double its previous year’s earnings. The Indian military drone market is heating up. A Reuters report in May quoted Drone Federation of India’s president Smit Shah, stating the government could spend up to $470 million on UAVs in the next 12–24 months—a near threefold increase over pre-conflict levels. While IdeaForge recently secured a Rs 137 crore order from the Indian Army, Raphe is seen as a frontrunner among unlisted players, along with Garuda Aerospace and Tata Advanced Systems. The Raphe mPhibr funding round signals investor confidence in India's domestic UAV ecosystem and marks a shift from import dependency to self-reliance. With India aiming to expand its military drone arsenal and support deep-tech defence startups through schemes like PLI, companies like Raphe stand poised to define the country’s technological edge in modern warfare.