ARSENALIND
Private markets · across the stack

Hunting the first defence DekaCons

India's military-tech startups raised 61x more in 2025 than in 2016. Ranked here by DekaCon probability — a curated 0–100 blend of funding depth, order traction, market structure and moat durability over a 5-year horizon.

Swarm of military quadcopter drones linked by holographic targeting lines
Swarm autonomy — India's fastest-growing procurement line, and the arena where Raphe, NewSpace and BBBS compete
AI visualization · Higgsfield
Active mil-tech startups
181
Tracxn, May 2026
Sector funding to date
$890M
83 funded companies
2025 funding
$192M+
61x the 2016 level
Covered here
12
$434M combined raised
#1
88
DekaCon score

Raphe mPhibr

Noida · est. 2017$154M total raised
Military drones (mR10/mR20 swarms, logistics UAV)

Stack: Full-stack airframe + propulsion + autonomy, 100% in-house manufacturing

Last round: Series B (2025) — largest Indian defence-tech round

Investors: General Catalyst, Think Investments

Traction: Army swarm-drone orders; highest-funded Indian mil-tech startup (Tracxn May-2026)

Category leader + deepest capital + in-house manufacturing = compounding advantage in India's fastest-growing procurement line

High conviction
#2
82
DekaCon score

Tonbo Imaging

Bengaluru · est. 2012$75M total raised
Thermal imaging, EO/IR sensors, fire-control

Stack: Proprietary imaging silicon-to-system; exports to 30+ countries

Last round: Series D ($20.4M, 2025); DRHP expected

Investors: Qualcomm Ventures, Celesta, Florintree

Traction: Profitable, export-heavy, IPO-bound — the exit template for the sector

Proven exports + profitability + imminent IPO; optics is a durable, sanctions-resilient niche

High conviction
#3
78
DekaCon score

Big Bang Boom Solutions

Chennai · est. 2018$35.5M total raised
Counter-drone (Vajra Sentinel), AI weapon systems

Stack: Detect-track-defeat C-UAS stack, hard-kill + soft-kill

Last round: Series C ($29.9M)

Investors: Bay Capital, SBI, Mumbai Angels

Traction: ₹200 Cr+ iDEX contract for Vajra Sentinel — among the largest startup defence orders

C-UAS is a 28% CAGR market and BBBS holds the flagship order

High conviction
#4
74
DekaCon score

Sagar Defence Engineering

Pune · est. 2015$48.2M total raised
Unmanned surface vessels, marine autonomy

Stack: Autonomous boats + naval drone deck systems

Last round: Series A ($25.4M)

Investors: IDBI Capital, ONGC, Skegen

Traction: Navy USV contracts; 'Matsya' autonomous vessel programs

Near-monopoly position in Indian naval autonomy with 176-ship navy tailwind

Watch closely
#5
72
DekaCon score

NewSpace Research & Technologies

Bengaluru · est. 2017$33M total raised
Drone swarms, HAPS (high-altitude pseudo-satellites)

Stack: Swarm autonomy + solar HAPS endurance flight

Last round: Series B ($33M)

Investors: MGF-Kavachh, UP Defence Corridor fund

Traction: IAF swarm contracts (Air Force leadership publicly backs); HAPS record flights

Swarms + HAPS are two of the three biggest future-of-war lines in Indian planning

Watch closely
#6
65
DekaCon score

AGNIT Semiconductors

Bengaluru · est. 2019$8M total raised
GaN RF semiconductors for radar/EW

Stack: IISc-spun GaN epitaxy + foundry partnerships — only Indian mil-GaN play

Last round: Seed/Series A

Investors: 3one4, Zephyr Peacock, IDEX

Traction: GaN devices qualifying into DRDO radar programs

95% mil-semiconductor import dependence = biggest single substitution prize; execution risk high but prize is DekaCon-scale

Watch closely
#7
60
DekaCon score

QNu Labs

Bengaluru · est. 2016$15M total raised
Quantum-safe cryptography (QKD, PQC, QRNG)

Stack: Full quantum-security platform incl. satellite/drone links

Last round: Series A + NQM grant

Investors: National Quantum Mission, Speciale Invest

Traction: Army QKD deployments; only Indian quantum-crypto vendor at deployment stage

If quantum-safe mandates arrive (banking + defence), QNu owns the Indian stack

Watch closely
#8
58
DekaCon score

Garuda Aerospace

Chennai · est. 2015$30M total raised
Dual-use drones (agri + defence), drone services

Stack: 300+ drone fleet ops, manufacturing + DGCA-certified training

Last round: Pre-IPO; DRHP planned

Investors: Venture Catalysts, MS Dhoni (brand)

Traction: Largest agri-drone fleet; defence line expanding; IPO pipeline

Scale + brand but commodity-drone competition compresses margins vs pure-defence peers

Watch closely
#9
55
DekaCon score

Optimized Electrotech

Ahmedabad · est. 2017$14M total raised
Electro-optic surveillance, AI multi-spectral imaging

Stack: Long-range EO/IR payloads for land/air/naval

Last round: Series B ($9.35M, Apr 2026)

Investors: Blue Ashva, Venture Catalysts

Traction: Border surveillance + payload orders; fresh capital Apr-2026

Strong niche but competes with Tonbo/Paras in a crowded optronics field

Watch closely
#10
52
DekaCon score

Jeh Aerospace

Hyderabad · est. 2022$11M total raised
Precision aero-manufacturing-as-a-service

Stack: AI-driven machining for global aero supply chains

Last round: Seed ($2.75M) + Series A

Investors: General Catalyst

Traction: US aero customer contracts; ex-Tata Boeing leadership

Rides the same Safran/GE sourcing shift as Azad/Unimech with venture speed

Optionality bet
#11
45
DekaCon score

EyeROV

Kochi · est. 2016$5M total raised
Underwater ROVs / drones

Stack: India's first commercial underwater drone; naval inspection + mine-ID

Last round: Series A

Investors: Unicorn India, IDEX

Traction: Navy + NPOL contracts; subsea inspection revenue

Critical niche, small TAM unless subsea warfare budgets expand

Optionality bet
#12
40
DekaCon score

AjnaLens

Mumbai · est. 2014$5M total raised
AR/VR training + mixed-reality soldier systems

Stack: AjnaXR headsets + skilling platform

Last round: Series A

Investors: Maharashtra Defence Fund, angels

Traction: Army AR training pilots; skilling B2B revenue

Training TAM is real but consumer-XR tech curves dominate the roadmap

Optionality bet

Funding data: Tracxn Military Tech India (May 2026), PitchBook, company/press releases. Private-company full financial statements are not freely disclosed in India (MCA filings are paywalled) — figures here are round sizes and totals reported by Tracxn/PitchBook/press. DekaCon score is an analytical ranking, not a valuation.