Ankit Mehta: The Deep-Tech Visionary Who Built India's Drone Empire
How an IIT Bombay engineer bootstrapped for 8 years to create India's first publicly listed drone manufacturer with 700,000+ successful missions
In an era where startup founders chase unicorn valuations and blitzscaling strategies, Ankit Mehta chose a radically different path. The CEO of IdeaForge spent 18 years building deep rather than fast, creating India's most successful drone manufacturer through patient capital and unwavering focus on technological resilience.
Check out the video of the conversation here or read on for insights.
The Foundation: From IIT Tinkerer to Industry Architect
Born with an insatiable curiosity for building "physical things," Ankit Mehta's journey began at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, where he pursued a Dual Degree in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Computer Aided Design and Automation from 2000 to 2005. Unlike many of his peers who gravitated toward Computer Science, Mehta was drawn to the tangible challenge of creating mobile robots and hardware solutions.
During his time at IIT Bombay, Mehta implemented over 20 hardware projects, several of which were selected for patenting. This wasn't merely academic achievement - it was the foundation of a maker culture that would later define IdeaForge's DNA. Working alongside future co-founders Ashish Bhat, Rahul Singh, and Vipul Joshi, the team collaborated on diverse projects ranging from hovercraft designed for Powai Lake to robotics for the ROBOCON competition.
We were confident that if we can think about something, we will be able to replicate it in real life... We were good at prototyping, developing technology; but we didn't have enough experience to create products. And that was our next zeal.
This transition from academic exploration to commercial ambition became their core mission: bridging the critical gap between a 95% complete prototype and a 100% reliable product.
The Catalyst: How 26/11 Shaped India's Drone Destiny
The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks served as a profound catalyst that transformed IdeaForge from a campus experiment into a national security mission. As Mehta and his team watched naval helicopters hover dangerously close to the Taj Hotel, struggling to provide real-time intelligence, they experienced a stark realization.
Their drone prototypes weren't just innovative gadgets - they were potentially life-saving tools that could provide crucial situational awareness in such scenarios without risking human lives. This moment crystallized their purpose and provided a clear, albeit challenging, primary market: India's defense, homeland security, and disaster management forces.
26/11 happened, we were like, you know, our drones should be doing this job for counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations instead of the senseless loss of life.
This pivot created both a massive first-mover advantage in a nascent market and established IdeaForge's deep entrenchment in the defense sector - a focus that would define their trajectory for the next decade.
The Philosophy: Growing Deep in a World Obsessed with Speed
While Silicon Valley celebrated the "move fast and break things" mantra, Ankit Mehta championed a contrarian philosophy that would become IdeaForge's defining characteristic. His approach was built on a simple but profound principle:
You can grow fast or deep, doing both takes time. For us, it took over 18 years.
This philosophy manifested in several key principles:
Frugality and Resilience: The early years were defined by extreme financial discipline. Mehta himself worked sales and marketing jobs for six months after founding the company simply to earn enough to sustain operations. The founders survived on minimal resources, taking on various small projects to bootstrap the company for eight years without institutional funding.
Technology as the Core Pillar: Even during the leanest times, IdeaForge consistently prioritized R&D and technological advancement. This unwavering focus is evidenced by their extensive intellectual property portfolio, which now includes over 62 filed patents.
Hardware-First Mentality: In stark contrast to the prevailing "software is eating the world" narrative, Mehta maintained that robust hardware remains the essential foundation for advanced software and AI capabilities, especially in mission-critical applications.
If you don't have better quality hardware, then software can't do much. Hardware is going to have an important role to play in pushing the boundaries of what's possible in software.
IdeaForge Technology: Building India's Drone Empire
Founded officially in 2007, IdeaForge achieved a landmark breakthrough in 2009 by becoming the first company to indigenously develop and manufacture Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs in India. This innovation was crucial for the Indian context, enabling surveillance operations in rugged, varied terrains where traditional runways were impractical or non-existent.
Technical Excellence and Market Dominance
IdeaForge's competitive advantage is built on three pillars: Performance, Reliability, and Autonomy. The company's unique selling proposition isn't just manufacturing drones - it's creating ruggedized, field-tested systems capable of performing reliably in extreme environmental conditions where competing products often fail.
The numbers tell a compelling story of technical excellence:
Mission Record: Over 700,000 successful drone missions completed
Operational Frequency: One IdeaForge drone takes off, on average, every five minutes
Environmental Resilience: Operations from -30°C at 6000-meter altitude to the scorching heat of Rajasthan's deserts
Market Position: 50% market share in India's overall UAS market, with over 90% dominance in defense and homeland security segments
Vertical Integration: Up to 70% of components, including critical systems like autopilots and communication modules, manufactured in-house
Intellectual Property: 62+ filed patents protecting their innovations
Product Portfolio: From NETRA to Switch UAV
IdeaForge's technology stack spans multiple platforms, each designed for specific mission requirements:
NETRA Series: The flagship quadcopter series capable of operating in extreme environments. The NETRA V4 PRO boasts over 90 minutes of flight time—a significant leap over the industry standard of approximately 30 minutes. The latest NETRA 5 is specifically built for contested electronic warfare environments with un-jammable navigation and AI-powered onboard computing.
Switch UAV: A hybrid VTOL platform that combines the vertical takeoff capability of a helicopter with the efficiency and range of a fixed-wing aircraft. This "all-terrain dominator" is designed for wide-area mapping and surveillance in high-altitude environments where traditional aircraft cannot operate effectively.
Q-Series: Versatile platforms for mission-critical applications including geospatial mapping, public safety, and industrial inspection.
Beyond hardware, IdeaForge has developed a comprehensive solutions ecosystem including the BlueFire Suite for ground control and mission planning, and FLYGHT - their Drone-as-a-Service platform that has already logged over 2,000 flights in its first six months of operation.
The Bootstrap Journey: Eight Years Without Institutional Capital
Perhaps no aspect of Mehta's journey is more remarkable than IdeaForge's extended bootstrap period. From 2009 to 2015, the company operated without raising any equity capital - a feat almost unheard of in today's venture capital-driven startup ecosystem.
This period of self-reliance wasn't just about financial independence; it was about building different organizational muscles. Instead of optimizing for growth metrics that would impress investors, the team focused relentlessly on product excellence and customer satisfaction.
It was tough. It was very, very tough, but it was largely through our own revenues of selling the drone systems because that builds a different muscle of building something that is useful.
The bootstrap approach forced IdeaForge to achieve something many venture-funded startups struggle with: building a product so valuable that customers would pay for it immediately, providing the cash flow necessary for organic growth.
The Path to Public Markets: India's Drone Industry Pioneer
When IdeaForge finally decided to raise institutional capital, they did so selectively. The company raised a total of $53.8 million over 16 rounds prior to their IPO, attracting strategic investors like Qualcomm Ventures, Infosys, and Celesta Capital who understood the long-term nature of the deep-tech business.
The company's IPO in June-July 2023 marked a watershed moment for India's drone industry. The offering raised ₹567.24 crores and was a blockbuster success, getting oversubscribed by 106 times. The shares listed at approximately 94% premium to the issue price, reflecting immense investor appetite for India's first pure-play, publicly listed drone manufacturer.
However, the post-IPO journey has highlighted the fundamental tension between IdeaForge's business model and public market expectations. The company's reliance on large, long-cycle defense contracts creates inherently "lumpy" revenue patterns that clash with the market's expectation of smooth, quarter-over-quarter growth.
Financial Performance and Market Reality
The financial data reveals both the promise and challenges of IdeaForge's business model:
FY22: ₹161.4 crores revenue, ₹44.0 crores net profit
FY23: ₹196.4 crores revenue, ₹32.0 crores net profit
FY24: ₹314.0 crores revenue, ₹45.3 crores net profit
FY25: ₹161.2 crores revenue, -₹62.3 crores net loss
Q1 FY26: ₹12.8 crores revenue (85% decline year-over-year)
These dramatic swings reflect the cyclical nature of defense procurement rather than fundamental business problems.
Importantly, while reported revenues declined, the company's order book showed substantial health with ₹144.8 crores in Q1 FY25, indicating strong future revenue pipeline.
Strategic Evolution: From Defense Staple to Global Platform
Recognizing the limitations of a domestic defense-focused model, IdeaForge has crafted a multi-pronged strategy for achieving long-term, scalable growth:
International Expansion
The company is strategically targeting geographies that share India's concerns about Chinese technology dependence. The United States represents the primary focus, where IdeaForge has established a subsidiary and partnered with California-based Vantage Robotics to achieve "Blue sUAS" status - a Department of Defense designation that provides access to the lucrative US defense market.
Platform Strategy Revolution
Perhaps the most significant strategic shift in IdeaForge's history is their evolution from a closed, vertically integrated product company to an open platform enabler. Recognizing that the diverse civil market requires countless niche applications they cannot build alone, they are opening their hardware as a platform for partners to innovate upon.
Earlier we were offering the payloads that go on the platform ourselves only... But now we are realising that we cannot be building all of this. So, we are saying that this platform is available and one can build any use case based on the needs of the customers.
This transformation from manufacturer to ecosystem enabler represents their fundamental strategy for scaling into the broader commercial market and achieving more consistent revenue streams.
Industry Impact: Architect of India's Drone Ecosystem
Ankit Mehta's influence extends far beyond IdeaForge's commercial success. As a member of the Government of India's UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) Committee and Drone AI Task Force, and as Co-Chair of the FICCI Committee on Drones, he has been instrumental in shaping India's drone regulatory framework.
His contributions helped guide India's transformation from having one of the world's most restrictive drone policies to creating one of the most liberalized frameworks globally. This regulatory evolution directly impacted the entire industry's growth potential, positioning India to become a global drone hub by 2030.
The Competitive Landscape: Defending Market Leadership
IdeaForge operates in India's rapidly expanding drone market, valued at approximately $1.5 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $4.8 billion by 2030 with a CAGR exceeding 20%. The company maintains dominant market positions across key segments:
Overall Indian UAS market: ~50% market share
Defense and homeland security: >90% market share
Consistently ranked among top global manufacturers of dual-use drones
The competitive landscape includes both domestic players like Zen Technologies (focused on anti-drone systems) and Garuda Aerospace (drone services), as well as global giants like DJI. However, IdeaForge's indigenous credentials, security assurances, and protection from India's 2022 ban on foreign drone imports provide significant competitive moats in government and enterprise sectors.
Vision for the Future: Building India's Deep-Tech Ecosystem
Beyond IdeaForge's commercial success, Mehta harbors a larger vision for India's technological independence and capabilities. His philosophy extends to nation-building through technology:
India as a country needs to become a product nation, right? And to become a product nation, we cannot be doing me too stuff. India can't be merely doing make in India of the extent of EMS.
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs reflects this broader vision: focus on building differentiated capabilities rather than copy-paste solutions, investigate deeply rather than building superficially, and contribute to India's technological sovereignty through genuine innovation.
The Contrarian's Vindication: Lessons in Patient Capital
Ankit Mehta's 18-year journey with IdeaForge offers a masterclass in contrarian entrepreneurship. While the startup ecosystem celebrates rapid scaling and venture capital milestones, Mehta's approach demonstrates the enduring value of:
Deep Technical Moats: By prioritizing technological excellence over market hype, IdeaForge built defensible advantages that competitors cannot easily replicate.
Customer-Centric Innovation: Eight years of bootstrap discipline forced the team to build products customers actually needed and would pay for, creating genuine product-market fit.
Long-term Thinking: Patient capital allowed IdeaForge to make strategic decisions based on long-term value creation rather than short-term investor expectations.
Mission-Driven Purpose: The company's origin story, rooted in national security needs, provided clarity of purpose that sustained the team through challenging periods.
A Legacy in the Making
Today, as IdeaForge navigates the complexities of public market expectations while expanding globally and diversifying beyond defense, Ankit Mehta's journey represents more than entrepreneurial success. It embodies a different model of company building - one that prioritizes depth over breadth, resilience over speed, and sustainable value creation over growth at any cost.
In his own words, Mehta sees his role not just as building a successful company, but as potentially standing "at the beginning of a tradition" of deep-tech entrepreneurship in India. Through IdeaForge's success and his broader contributions to policy and ecosystem building, he is indeed creating a template for how India can build world-class technology companies that compete globally while serving national interests.
As India aspires to become a global technology leader, Ankit Mehta's story offers both inspiration and instruction: sometimes the longest path creates the strongest foundation, and sometimes growing deep is the fastest way to grow far.
Listen now!
Other ways to listen:
Your Feedback matters
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Whether it's about this episode or ideas you’ve been playing around with, shoot me an email at ad@thepodium.in. Your feedback keeps these conversations going, and I’m always up for chatting about your startup ideas too.
Until next time,
Your Host,
Akshay Datt