DGCA certifies the first Small category drone Insight, an enterprise grade drone from an Indian drone startup, Aarav Unmanned Systems

Bengaluru, 4^th September 2019: AUS’s (Aarav Unmanned Systems) flagship enterprise grade multicopter drone: Insight becomes first small category drone to be certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India for the No-Permission No-Takeoff (NPNT) and manufacturing compliances laid down by the authority in its recently released Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) for drone operations in India.

So far, three other Indian startups have been able to obtain certification under micro category. AUS is the first company to get the certification under Small category. Drones weighing between 250 gms to 2 Kg come under micro category which has lesser compliances to meet and are limited by performance and capability to carry payloads for commercial operations longer. Small category drones weigh between 2 Kg to 25 Kg which can stay longer and carry heavier, more advanced sensors and need additional compliances to be met as per the CAR.

Commenting on this achievement, Vipul Singh, CEO, AUS said, “We are very delighted with this achievement and to maintain our legacy of being the technology leader in the commercial drone market in India. We were the first to develop and launch the PPK GPS technology, terrain following capability on drones in India and now we are first small category drone to be certified by DGCA. Our team has been always aggressive about maintaining the lead position when it comes to the technology. Even our NPNT implementation is of premium level with some advance capabilities which we will be announcing soon. So far, we have been able to achieve 250% YoY growth from our end to end solution for enterprises. We are very optimistic about achieving atleast 400% YoY growth and to help larger no. of enterprises adopt compliant drone operations for their different business functions. We are extremely thankful to DGCA for being very supportive and startup friendly and the entire team of iSpirit for being instrumental in making Digital Sky and NPNT possible for the drone ecosystem in India.”

“Legacy Indian business in both the private and public sectors showed inhibitions in the early adoption of ambient intelligence technologies like UAVs (drones) that level-up competencies in industries with data-driven routines. Proving consistency in driving cost benefits while competing against inexpensive labor was a key challenge, especially with unclear regulatory frameworks. Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS) understood this environment early and crafted their product and its deployment around India’s unique requirements, gaining trust across some of the largest clients in critical sectors like natural resources, infrastructure, urban planning, and agriculture,” said 3ONE4 Capital which has invested in AUS.

Mr. BV Naidu, Managing Partner, StartupXseed Ventures, an early investor in AUS commented, “Since inception AUS has been making advances in developing new technologies in the Unmanned Arial Vehicles, along with building innovative and low-cost solutions for the enterprises segment. Becoming the first company to obtain compliance certification for the small category is substantiation to their competence in meeting the highest level of benchmarks present in the industry. Though they are well positioned to address the inconsistencies of tech-disabled operations at enterprises and their adversities at global levels since long, this recognition from DGCA will give them more credibility and opportunities to cater to.”

About AUS:

AUS (Aarav Unmanned Systems) is a drone startup which builds next generation commercial grade drones and provides end to end drone-based solutions for enterprise applications in Mining, Infrastructure, Urban Planning, Irrigation, Energy and Agriculture. Founded by a bunch of engineers and enthusiasts from IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay and Amity University in the year 2013, AUS is the pioneer of commercial application drones in India.