Arctus Aerospace has raised $2.6 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Version One Ventures and South Park Commons, with participation from gradCapital and angel investors including Balaji Srinivasan, Srinivas Narayan, early Ather engineers, and leaders from Bounce Infinity and Boom Supersonic.
The Bengaluru-based deep-tech startup was earlier part of the South Park Commons Founder Fellowship.
The company will use the funds to expand engineering capacity and strengthen its full-stack manufacturing setup as it advances development of long-endurance aircraft designed for real-time geospatial intelligence.
Founded in 2024 by Shreepoorna S, Arctus Aerospace builds unmanned fighter-class aircraft capable of operating at 45,000 feet, flying for up to 24 hours, and carrying payloads of up to 250 kg. The startup manages design, manufacturing, assembly, and systems engineering in-house.
The aircraft platform supports SAR, hyperspectral, optical, EO and IR sensing. According to the company, missions covering 500 sq. km that typically cost around $10,000 can be executed for close to $500 using its system, enabling wider adoption across energy, climate monitoring, infrastructure and security.
Arctus currently operates aircraft above 10,000 feet, delivering centimetre-level accuracy in mapping and analytics. All development and testing take place in its 25,000-sq-ft facility in Bengaluru.
The company enters a growing UAV sector with 57 active competitors, including global players such as Ehang, Wisk and Aurora.
