Team StartupCity

• Raises $1Million in first external round led by Sunny Stalnaker
• Backed by SIDBI and MoD’s iDEX grants
• Plans to scale autonomous drone systems for defense, industry

Bengaluru-based startup Tsalla Aerospace has raised $1 million in its maiden funding round led by Sunny Stalnaker, Executive VP at ASML. The round also saw participation from SIDBI, along with equity-free grants from the Ministry of Defence’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative.

Founded in 2019 and incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Tsalla specializes in building autonomous AI systems for unmanned aerial and ground platforms. Its flagship product, AI Pilot, allows drones and unmanned systems to function independently without GPS or communication support, minimizing the need for human operators.

Tsalla has already partnered with the Indian Navy and Army on groundbreaking projects such as confined-space drones for reconnaissance, backpackable VTOL platforms for field operations, and logistics drones capable of ship-to-ship delivery in challenging environments.

The fresh funds will help the company expand its autonomy technology and scale deployments both in defense and industrial sectors. Tsalla also plans to raise an additional $8 million in a seed round to grow further in domestic and global markets.

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Operating in a fast-growing defense tech ecosystem, Tsalla competes with companies like ideaForge, NewSpace Research & Tech, Sagar Defence, and CRON Systems, as well as international autonomy developers.

With the new capital and ongoing military collaborations, Tsalla is positioning itself as a key player in the future of autonomous defense and industrial operations.