Airbound a deeptech autonomous delivery drone startup based in Bengaluru is preparing to raise around $30 million in fresh funding, with the round being led by Greenoaks and backed by existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners. This marks a major vote of confidence from global venture capital in Airbound’s blended-wing-body aircraft and autonomous logistics vision.
Founded in 2023 by Naman Pushp, who first began working on drones as a teenager, Airbound’s technology features a unique tail-sitter aircraft design that takes off vertically like a rocket and transitions into efficient fixed-wing cruise flight. The aircraft is engineered with lightweight carbon fibre and in-house manufactured components, enabling improved energy efficiency and cargo payload potential compared with traditional quadcopter designs.
The fresh funds will further accelerate Airbound’s R&D, manufacturing scaling and expansion beyond its current focus on healthcare logistics where it has piloted autonomous deliveries of medical samples and supplies to target multiple delivery sectors by 2026. Long-term ambitions include embedding drone delivery into e-commerce and logistics ecosystems, offering customers choice between vans, bikes or drones for cost-effective, last-mile fulfilment.
The round also coincides with a global shift in investor appetite toward R&D-intensive startups in robotics, aerospace and AI-driven hardware bolstered by both private venture capital and government policies focused on deeptech innovation. With this backing, Airbound aims to broaden operational footprints, increase manufacturing throughput and pursue regulatory clearance to scale its autonomous delivery network.
