Singularity backs IIT Kanpur spin-out EndureAir as the Army drone supplier looks to turn prototypes into programmes

EndureAir Systems, a drone maker spun out of IIT Kanpur, has picked up backing from Singularity in an early-stage round announced on 7 November 2026. The size of the round was not disclosed. For EndureAir, which already supplies logistics drones to the Indian Army, the new investor is less about cash than about help in turning a portfolio of tested prototypes into large, repeat defence programmes.

Who EndureAir is

EndureAir was founded in 2018 by Prof Abhishek of IIT Kanpur's Department of Aerospace Engineering, together with his former students Rama Krishna Mendu, now the chief executive, and Chirag Jain. The company is based in Noida and builds drones for defence, surveillance, disaster management and logistics.

Its best-known products are the Sabal series of logistics drones. The Sabal 10 and Sabal 20 are built to carry payloads of 10 kg and 20 kg at high altitude, the kind of load needed to resupply troops at remote posts in the mountains. EndureAir has delivered Sabal 20 drones to the Army in the Eastern theatre, under the special financial powers that let Army Commanders make emergency purchases directly.

A wider portfolio

Beyond the Sabal family, EndureAir has been building a broader set of military drones:

• a 50 kg logistics drone co-developed with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL);
• a long-range strike drone being developed with Ananth Technologies;
• a 200 kg heavy-lift drone that is part-funded by the Technology Development Board under the government's Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme. Inc42 has reported that EndureAir secured ₹30 crore under the RDI scheme for this heavy-payload platform.

The company also works on FPV (first-person-view) strike drones. According to idrw.org's report on the Singularity investment, seven of EndureAir's eight systems are at technology readiness level (TRL) 4 or above, and two are fielded at TRL 9, the level at which a system has been proven in operational use.

What Singularity brings

Singularity has said it estimates India's drone and loitering munition opportunity at more than $10 billion over the next five to seven years. It plans to help EndureAir with converting trials into programmes, winning customers, scaling up deployment and building an international go-to-market and export strategy.

That focus is telling. The hardest part of building a defence drone company in India is not usually the engineering but the procurement process: moving from emergency purchases and trials to large, multi-year contracts with the armed forces. Investors who can help a company handle that transition are valuable to a start-up with some fielded systems, according to its investor.

EndureAir had earlier raised a seed round of about ₹13.5 crore led by the family office of Jalaj Dani, a co-promoter of Asian Paints, with participation from the co-founders of Addverb Technologies.

Why it matters

India's armed forces have dramatically expanded their use of drones in recent years, for surveillance, logistics and strike. High-altitude logistics is an area where drones offer a clear advantage: carrying supplies to posts in the Himalayas has traditionally required porters, mules or helicopters, all of which are slow, expensive or risky. Drones that can reliably carry 20 kg or more in thin air and harsh weather can shorten supply chains and reduce the risks to soldiers.

Domestic production of such drones also reduces dependence on imported systems and components, which has become a stated priority for the defence ministry. Start-ups spun out of academic institutions, such as EndureAir from IIT Kanpur, are an important part of that effort, because they combine research depth with the ability to move quickly.

The road ahead

As some observers have noted, funding and prototypes do not by themselves guarantee military orders. EndureAir faces competition from a growing field of Indian drone makers, and the defence procurement market is shaped by policy decisions and long evaluation cycles. The next test for the company is whether it can turn its fielded systems and its new investor's backing into larger, multi-year contracts and, eventually, exports.

Sources

• idrw.org: Singularity invests in EndureAir Systems to expand India's indigenous drone capabilities
• Dealroom: Singularity backs IIT Kanpur drone spin-out EndureAir in early-stage round
• Inc42: EndureAir nets ₹30 crore under RDI scheme to build heavy-payload drone platform
• Forbes India: Rama Krishna Mendu and Chirag Jain, the drone boys
• Construction World: EndureAir supplies Sabal 20 drones to Indian Army
• YourStory: EndureAir is using deeptech and defence contracts to scale India's drone capabilities
• DQIndia: IIT Kanpur incubated drone start-up EndureAir Systems raises Rs 13.5 crore