India’s Military Tech Start-Ups Funding Rises 61x in a Decade, Raphe mPhibr at the Forefront

India’s defence technology has witnessed a sharp rise in investor interest over the past decade, with military tech start-up funding surging from $3.1 million in 2016 to $192.4 million in 2025 (till date), according to Tracxn data. This shows nearly 61-fold increase in the sector, making 2025 the most funded year to date.

The growth is largely driven by Noida-based drone start-up, Raphe mPhibr’s landmark $100 million funding in Series B round. To date, the sector has raised $611 million across 211 equity funding rounds. The number of funding rounds has mirrored this growth, rising from only three in 2016 to a peak of 36 in 2023, with 20 already recorded in 2025.

Apart from Raphe mPhibr, Newspace Research and Technologies also raised $33 million in Series B, and Sagar Defence Engineering secured $25.4 million in Series A, the data revealed. 

Notably, early-stage rounds accounted for 8 of the 10 largest all-time funding deals, underscoring strong investor focus at this stage. Seed-stage start-ups raised smaller but critical rounds, including DroneAcharya which raised $4.6 million, Gamma Rotors, which raised $3.1 million, and Constelli raised  $3.0 million. 

Late-stage funding witnessed notable rounds such as Big Bang Boom Solutions’ $29.9 million with its Series C round and Tonbo Imaging’s $20.4 million Series D round, it added.

"Deep tech solutions such as drones, AI, robotics, and cybersecurity are moving from experimental to mission-critical, with dual-use applications strengthening both defence and civilian domains," said Neha Singh, cofounder of Tracxn.

She acknowledged that government initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat, iDEX and the Defence Industrial Corridors are accelerating this shift, while a widening pool of investors, from established domestic players to new global entrants, signals strong confidence in the sector’s future.

The sector has recorded four acquisitions to date, reflecting growing consolidation in the ecosystem. These deals include Reliance Industries’ acquisition of Asteria Aerospace in 2019, Adani Defence Systems and Technologies’ acquisitions of Flaire Unmanned Systems in 2019 and Alpha Design Technologies in 2018 and Trentar’s acquisition of Trishula in 2021.

In addition, four companies went IPO, marking an important milestone for India’s defence technology ecosystem. These include ideaForge that went public in 2023 and DroneAcharya in 2022, while earlier listings include Zen Technologies in 2015 and Astra Microwave Products in 2004.

These IPOs demonstrate the sector’s growing maturity, with startups scaling to public markets and attracting wider investor participation.