Drone technology startup SUIND has raised ₹20.5 crore (around $2.1 million) in a seed funding round led by Transition VC, with participation from IIMA Ventures, the company announced. Founded in 2020 by Kunal Shrivastava and Kevin Kleber, SUIND plans to use the capital to scale its agricultural drone platform, accelerate development of its infrastructure inspection drone, and enhance its autonomous technology and engineering team, according to inc42.com.
SUIND develops autonomous unmanned aerial systems that rely on computer vision rather than GPS for navigation. Its proprietary vision-first autonomy platform enables drones to operate in low-altitude, near-terrain, and GPS-denied environments where traditional drones face challenges. The startup has commercially deployed its DGCA-certified autonomous spraying drone, Bumblebee, across plantations and farms, which improves spraying consistency while reducing chemical use, operating costs, and worker exposure to agrochemicals, inc42.com reported.
The fresh funding will also support the development of WASP, SUIND's autonomous aerial platform designed for industrial monitoring, security, surveillance, and defence applications. The company aims to leverage its vision-based autonomy stack to enable WASP to function in complex environments. This positions SUIND alongside other drone startups focusing on autonomous navigation capabilities beyond GPS, a growing segment in the unmanned aerial systems market, per inc42.com.
SUIND's seed round led by Transition VC and IIMA Ventures marks a key milestone as the startup advances its autonomous drone solutions. The company has already deployed Bumblebee commercially and is progressing on WASP, aiming to expand its footprint in agriculture and industrial sectors.