Robotics startup AquaAirX raises Rs 12.5 crore from Zerodha's Rainmatter, Prime Venture Partners, others

Robotics startup AquaAirX, which builds drones, has raised Rs 12.5 crore in a round led by Rainmatter, the investment arm of Zerodha. The round also saw participation from Prime Venture Partners, Wyser and India Accelerator.

Founded by Gouthami TS and Jitendra Kumar Purnmal Saini, AquaAirX is developing unmanned platforms that can transition between aerial flight and underwater operations, eliminating the need for separate drones for air and sea missions.

The deeptech startup said this will enable continuous intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations with faster response times and lower operational risk. It plans to start manufacturing and enter defence and commercial markets by 2027.


The Bengaluru-based startup said the fresh capital will be used to build its core technology stack, including system autonomy, controls, sensing and communication capabilities, and to improve the reliability of air-to-water transitions.

AquaAirX will also expand its engineering and research teams across robotics, autonomy and embedded systems. In addition, it will use part of the funds for testing, validation and certification to meet defence-grade standards.

“The future of maritime intelligence and surveillance will be defined by platforms that can seamlessly operate across domains,” said Gouthami, cofounder and chief executive officer of AquaAirX. “This funding allows us to accelerate our vision of building indigenous, mission-ready amphibious and underwater autonomous systems that can fundamentally change how maritime operations are conducted, for both defence and critical commercial applications.”

The startup is also building a Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV) designed for precise underwater inspection, monitoring and intervention, targeting defence and commercial use cases.

“Today’s maritime operations are constrained by siloed platforms that operate either in the air or underwater, creating gaps in intelligence and response time,” said Saini, co-founder and chief technology officer. “Our goal is to remove this fragmentation by building autonomous systems that can transition across domains while remaining reliable, covert and mission-ready.”

Rainmatter said it backed AquaAirX for its systems-level approach to multi-domain autonomy. “They are not just building a vehicle, but foundational architecture for true autonomy across air and underwater domains,” said Abhinav Singh Negi, investment manager at Rainmatter.