Why we invested in Naveria Space
Air defence costs more than air attack, and the gap has widened. Naveria Space builds high-speed unmanned aircraft, starting with the aerial targets that air defences are tested and trained against.
Defending against air attack has always cost more than mounting one. Over the last four years that gap has become measurable: a one-way attack drone that costs $20,000 to $50,000 is shot down by a missile that costs $1 million to $5 million, and the interceptor stockpiles run out first. Air forces are now buying two things in response: cheaper ways to shoot drones down, and better ways to train and test the systems that do the shooting. Naveria Space, founded in Pune by Aman Kumar Singh and Ved Takte, builds the second and is working towards the first. We partnered with the company in 2026 in its first institutional round.
Interceptor economics
The cost of the shot against the cost of the threat, multiplied by how many shots a raid needs. Change the assumptions to see how the ratio moves.
Reference points: one-way attack drones of the Shahed-136 class are estimated at $20,000 to $50,000 (CSIS and RUSI, cited by open-source trackers); a PAC-3 MSE interceptor is listed at about $5.3 million and older Patriot rounds at about $1 million (JINSA cost tables, July 2025); Ukrainian FPV interceptors cost $1,000 to $2,500 and hit rates of 80 to 90 percent are reported by trade press; Pakistan launched 300 to 400 drones at 36 locations in one night during May 2025 (Ministry of External Affairs briefing). Wartime production and hit-rate figures are directional.
A first product the customer already buys
Naveria's first product is the aerial target: an unmanned aircraft flown as the threat that a missile battery, a gun system or a laser must detect and destroy during trials and training. Every air-defence acquisition India makes, and the July 2026 approvals alone ran to about ₹52,000 crore with air defence as the stated priority, has to be tested against a target, and every unit that operates the system has to train against one. Targets are consumed, so the demand recurs. And because the target has to behave like the threat, a company that builds convincing high-speed targets is building most of what a loitering munition or a strike aircraft needs: airframe, propulsion, guidance and the ability to operate in contested airspace.
That sequencing is the reason we backed a two-person company at this stage. The target is the product that earns flight heritage, customer relationships and test-range access, three things a new aerospace company cannot acquire any other way. The loitering munition, for which India's post-Sindoor emergency procurement has created demand measured in thousands of units, is the second product. Supersonic strike systems are the longer-term roadmap.
Source: JINSA cost tables (July 2025) for missiles; US Army testimony and trade press for interceptor drones (Merops about $15,000; Coyote about $100,000); Ukrainian FPV interceptor costs reported by trade press. Directional.
Why the timing is now
- The FY27 defence budget grew 15.2 percent, capital outlay grew about 22 percent, and three-quarters of modernisation spend is reserved for Indian companies.
- The emergency procurement window after May 2025 has already pulled orders for drones and ammunition worth about ₹40,000 crore into Indian industry.
- The iDEX channel has signed more than 550 contracts with startups, and the Ministry of Defence has procured more than ₹2,400 crore from iDEX innovators, so the path from a development contract to an order exists and has been walked.
- Interceptor economics is a global procurement priority: the United States bought about 13,000 low-cost interceptor drones in one purchase in 2026, and every one of those interceptors was tested against a target.
The founders
Aman and Ved chose Pune, which sits inside India's aerospace and defence manufacturing cluster and close to the test and certification bodies a company like this depends on. Their approach is rapid iteration at low cost: a first product a customer will pay for this year rather than a demonstrator for a programme that starts in five.
What we are betting on
- That aerial targets are a durable, recurring, under-supplied product in India and an export line under the SCOMET regime.
- That the target earns the certification and range access that make the munition possible.
- That an Indian company can hold the airframe, propulsion and guidance layers while partnering with established explosives makers for the warhead.
The first targets are scheduled to fly this year.