Airbound raises $37 million in Series A funding led by Greenoaks

Aerospace startup Airbound has raised $37 million in a Series A funding round led by Greenoaks.

The funding round saw participation from DoorDash, Lachy Groom, Lightspeed and Humba Ventures.

The Bengaluru-based startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand its aircraft development and manufacturing capabilities and build out its commercial operations. 

Founded in 2023 by Naman Pushp, Muzavar Faraaz Baig and Yashi Pushp, Airbound is developing autonomous drones designed to transport goods at a cost competitive with road-based logistics. Airbound's drones use a blended-wing-body design that allows them to take off vertically before switching to fixed-wing flight. The startup is betting that the design can make drone-based delivery cheaper than conventional road-based logistics.

The funding for the startup comes alongside a commercial deployment agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to build a drone delivery network connecting Amaravati, Vijayawada and Guntur. The company had previously partnered with Narayana Health to use drones for transporting medical supplies and diagnostic samples in Bengaluru.

Airbound had previously raised $8.65 million in a seed round in October last year. It is now looking to move from pilot deployments to commercial-scale operations.