Finvolve Backs KshatraLabs in Pre-Seed Round to Accelerate India’s Indigenous Autonomous Counter-Drone Technology
Finvolve, a multi-stage venture capital fund along with India Accelerator (IA), has made an undisclosed investment in KshatraLabs, an Indian DefenceTech startup building autonomous aerial interceptor systems to address the growing threat posed by hostile drones and drone swarms.
The investment will support KshatraLabs in advancing product development, strengthening its engineering capabilities and progressing its autonomous counter-drone systems towards higher technology readiness levels and field validation. The company plans to deploy the capital towards research and development, core engineering talent, legal and intellectual property requirements, certifications, defence events and operational needs.
KshatraLabs is developing HAWK, an autonomous aerial interceptor capable of detecting, tracking and neutralising hostile UAVs at speed upwards of 89.5 m/s (300 km/h), with less than five seconds of launch readiness. Its software-first architecture combines external sensors such as radars with onboard EO/IR sensors for autonomous terminal guidance, supported by a proprietary state-of-the-art autonomy stack called APEX. The stack allows rapid response with accuracy in high-speed scenarios.
Commenting on the investment, Ashish Bhatia, Co-Founder of Finvolve and Founder & CEO of India Accelerator, said, “India's evolving defence landscape requires indigenous technologies capable of addressing emerging threats with greater speed, autonomy and cost efficiency. KshatraLabs is working on a critical capability gap in counter-drone defence through its high-speed autonomous interceptor technology. Its software-led approach, focus on sovereign technology and alignment with emerging defence requirements make it an interesting company to watch as India builds capabilities for the next generation of warfare.”
Speaking on the investment, Rishav Dev Mishra, Co-Founder & CEO, KshatraLabs, said, “The future of deterrence relies on mass manufactured, AI-native, autonomous systems operating at the edge. At KshatraLabs, our systems are built to navigate, intercept and close the kill chain entirely on their own. Utilizing intelligent sensor fusion and systems that run at the edge in contested environments, KshatraLabs aims to build vehicles that execute operations with full mission autonomy across air, land, and sea. This investment will help us accelerate hardware development, strengthen our engineering capabilities and move closer to field validation and deployment.”
The investment comes at a time when counter-drone capabilities are emerging as a strategic priority for defence forces globally. KshatraLabs is developing swarm-capable interceptor systems for coordinated response to mass drone threats, alongside an AI-native C4ISR and JADC2 layer enabling multi-sensor fusion, real-time decision-making and operations in contested, GPS-denied environments. The company has demonstrated autonomous interception and completed hardware-in-the-loop testing at 90 m/s, and engaged with the Indian Armed Forces for feedback on hardkill systems . It is also aligned with multiple active defence procurement requirements and has received a grant under the SISF scheme.
With the fresh capital, KshatraLabs aims to take its swarm interceptor drones to TRL-6, establish strategic partnerships, and conduct operational field trials to progress towards defence procurement opportunities. Its technology also has potential applications across critical infrastructure, airports, power plants, refineries and ports, where scalable counter-drone capabilities are increasingly relevant.
