Meet CEO who turned his IIT project into Rs 2500 crore company, was motivated by…

Market leader IdeaForge began its journey as a college project for Ankit Mehra and his two IIT juniors. The company is now on its way to get listed on the stock market. India’s largest drone maker recently completed its pre-IPO placement.

IdeaForge was incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay by three students Ankit Mehta, Ashish Bhatt and Rahul Singh. They began working on a project to build an unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) in 2007.

The struggle of security forces in locating the terrorists during the horrific Mumbai attack of 2008 further fortified Ankit’s trust in the need for the technology they were working on. Years later, the company bagged a massive order for specialised drones from the Indian Army.

2009 was another big year for IdeaForge. A drone developed in their stable made its on-screen debut in the Aamir Khan-starrer Bollywood blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’. Mehta’s childhood friend Vipul Joshi joined as the fourth co-founder to oversee operations.

Mehta’s Ideaforge has over 20 patents. It bagged a huge $20 million offer from the Indian Army for its specialised SWITCH drones. They have voluntarily deployed drones in flood, earthquake disaster sites to aid in the search and rescue operations. 

IPO details

Ideaforge completed the pre-IPO round with a valuation of Rs 2,500 crore, according to an Economic Times report. The Infosys-backed firm raised Rs 60 crore from institutional investors including Tata AIG General Insurance, Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund. Ankit Mehta’s firm is eyeing the IPO launch around the end of June, the report added. Analysts predict the issue size to be around Rs 650 crore.