QUICK TAKE:
| Deal: LAT Aerospace acquires Sharang Shakti — terms undisclosed Value: Undisclosed | Sharang Shakti raised Rs 5 Cr (~$599K) at pre-seed before acquisition Multiple: Undisclosed | Strategic/technology acquisition, not financial Rationale: Build indigenous autonomy, radar, and counter-drone tech shared across defence + civil aviation What Sharang Shakti Does: Low C-SWaP radars for micro-drone detection + hard-kill interceptors (net-launch & kinetic-hit) Closure: Completed — announced February 24, 2026 by Deepinder Goyal on X |
LAT Aerospace, the Gurugram-based aviation startup co-founded by Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal and former Zomato COO Surobhi Das, has acquired Sharang Shakti — a Gurugram-based IIT-Delhi alumni defence robotics startup building anti-drone air defence systems — marking Goyal’s first move into indigenous defence technology and positioning LAT as India’s most ambitious private dual-use aerospace company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
This deal signals that LAT Aerospace is not content being a regional aviation play. By internalizing autonomy, radar, and counter-drone systems from first principles, Goyal is constructing a unified technology stack — one that mirrors how global aerospace giants from Boeing to Israel Aerospace Industries have always operated. For India’s defence establishment, a well-capitalised private founder building dual-use systems without government contracts is a genuinely new phenomenon — and one that competitors, investors, and the Ministry of Defence will be watching closely.
StartupFeed Insight
| The real story: Goyal didn’t buy an anti-drone company. He bought the technology primitives — radar, navigation, guidance, kill systems — that are the same building blocks LAT needs for autonomous STOL aircraft. Sharang Shakti’s team of 18 IIT-Delhi engineers becomes LAT’s core autonomy team overnight. The $599K pre-seed acquisition price (if deal equals last known valuation) is the most efficient technology acqui-hire in Indian aerospace history. Winner: • Sharang Shakti founders — IIT-Delhi engineers who built anti-drone hardware get rocket-ship equity, Goyal’s network, and Rs 130.6 Cr of LAT’s seed capital behind their technology • India’s private defence ecosystem — a credible, well-funded founder doing dual-use tech without government dependency normalises the category for future founders and investors Loser: • Zen Technologies, ideaForge, and Big Bang Boom Solutions — India’s listed and venture-backed counter-drone players now face a rival with Deepinder Goyal’s capital, distribution relationships, and ‘founder celebrity’ that attracts top talent without competing on salary • MoD’s DRDO-first procurement mindset — if LAT builds a superior anti-drone system from first principles, it creates political pressure to open government contracts to private players faster than the ministry is comfortable with What to watch: Whether Sharang Shakti’s founders — Karan Goyal (CEO), Chirag Singla (CTO), Jitendra Singh (COO) — retain autonomy within LAT or get absorbed into a single P&L. Acqui-hire success in deep tech depends entirely on founders staying motivated post-acquisition. Our prediction: LAT Aerospace will demonstrate a LAT One-integrated anti-drone capability by Q4 2026, using Sharang Shakti’s radar stack fused with LAT’s autonomy layer — positioning for a pilot contract with Indian Air Force or CISF airport security within 18 months. If it lands one government contract before Series A, LAT’s valuation will 3x from its current Rs 821.1 Cr post-money. |
Deal Structure
| Component | Details |
| Deal Type | Full acquisition — 100% stake in Sharang Shakti by LAT Aerospace |
| Cash Component | Undisclosed |
| Stock Component | Likely equity in LAT Aerospace — terms not disclosed publicly |
| Earnout | Not disclosed |
| Last Known Valuation (Sharang Shakti) | Undisclosed (raised $599K / Rs 5 Cr at pre-seed, Sep 2024) |
| Deal Announced | February 24, 2026 — Deepinder Goyal via X (formerly Twitter) |
| Regulatory Approval | CCI approval not required (below threshold); defence sector FDI approvals may apply |
Why This Deal Makes Sense — The Technology Thesis
Goyal’s announcement on X framed the deal with unusual clarity: “Civil aviation and defence are often viewed as separate sectors. But the core technology stack is shared across autonomy, perception, sensing, navigation, guidance, and control systems.” This is not PR spin — it is a precise engineering truth. The same radar system that detects a rogue drone can guide an aircraft’s collision-avoidance system. The same control algorithms that intercept an aerial target manage autonomous flight path correction.
LAT’s STOL aircraft are being designed from first principles with autonomy built in from day one. Until now, LAT would have had to license or source autonomy primitives — navigation stacks, sensor fusion, guidance algorithms — from vendors. Sharang Shakti’s team of 18 engineers, who built these systems specifically for hostile-environment detection and interception (a harder problem than civil autonomy), gives LAT a proprietary in-house capability that is almost impossible to buy at this quality for $599K from any other source.
Goyal’s closing words — ‘Slowly but surely‘ — signal this is a long-horizon bet, not a product sprint. LAT is not trying to win a defence contract in 6 months. It is building the technology moat that will define its next decade.
Target Snapshot — Sharang Shakti
| Parameter | Details |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Headquarters | Gurugram, Haryana |
| Founders | Karan Goyal (CEO), Chirag Singla (CTO), Jitendra Singh (COO), Rishabh Choudhary, Gaurav Kumar — IIT Delhi alumni |
| Employees | 18 (as of January 2026, per Tracxn) |
| Total Funding Raised | $599K (Rs ~5 Cr) — Pre-seed, September 2024 |
| Lead Investors | AUM Ventures, Venture Highway (co-led) + JK Group Family Office, Appreciate Capital, angels |
| Flagship Product | Anti-drone air defence system — airspace surveillance, radar detection, UAV interception |
| Key Technologies | Low C-SWaP radars (micro-drone detection); hard-kill interceptors (net-launching + kinetic-hit mechanisms) |
| Recognition | Inc42 ’30 Startups To Watch’ — November 2024 edition |
| Mantra | “From India, For Global” — ambition to be India’s answer to Lockheed Martin |
What the Founder Says
|
The phrase “from first principles” appears twice in Goyal’s statement — a deliberate signal. This is not an integration play; it is a capability-building philosophy. Goyal is explicitly rejecting the shortcut of licensing foreign technology or stitching together vendor systems. For a company only 13 months old, that ambition is either visionary or delusional — and Goyal’s track record at Zomato suggests it’s worth taking seriously.
Acquirer Snapshot — LAT Aerospace
| Parameter | Details |
| Founded | January 2025 |
| Co-Founders | Deepinder Goyal (Zomato founder, now Vice Chairman of Eternal) + Surobhi Das (former Zomato COO) |
| Headquarters | New Delhi | R&D Lab: Gurugram (50,000 sq ft facility) + Bengaluru (propulsion / gas turbine R&D) |
| Seed Funding Raised | Rs 130.6 Cr (~$15.6 Mn) — April 2025 | Dharana Capital + Deepinder Goyal |
| Post-Money Valuation | Rs 821.1 Cr (~$98 Mn) — April 2025 seed round |
| Core Product | Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft — ultra-compact air-stops, hybrid-electric propulsion, autonomy-native design |
| Latest Milestone | LAT One v0.1: uSTOL achieved in test flight (Jan 2026); aircraft crashed post-test due to known structural defects — v0.2 in development |
| Mission | High-frequency, low-cost regional air travel via dense air-stop network — ‘make flying feel like taking a bus’ |
| Goyal’s Other Ventures | Continue Research (longevity), Temple (wearables) — post-Eternal CEO exit in January 2026 |
Valuation Analysis — Is the Price Fair?
Deal terms were not disclosed, making a precise valuation multiple impossible to calculate. However, context clues suggest this was a talent-and-technology acquisition at a price closely tied to Sharang Shakti’s Rs 5 Cr pre-seed round (September 2024) — making it one of the most capital-efficient defence tech acquisitions in India’s startup history.
| Comparable Deal | Amount | Stage of Target |
| LAT → Sharang Shakti (this deal) | Undisclosed (pre-seed comparable) | Pre-seed, 18 engineers, Rs 5 Cr raised |
| ideaForge (listed counter-drone, India) | Market cap ~Rs 1,200 Cr (Feb 2026) | Listed, 400+ drones deployed |
| Zen Technologies (listed C-UAS, India) | Market cap ~Rs 4,000 Cr | Listed, 20+ year track record |
| D-Fend Solutions (Israel C-UAS) | Raised $28 Mn (Series B) | Series B, deployed globally |
For strategic acquirers, the relevant comparison is not market-rate M&A multiples but build vs buy cost. Recruiting 18 IIT-Delhi defence engineers, building a radar and interceptor system from scratch, and accumulating 2 years of proprietary hardware IP would cost a well-funded startup Rs 20–40 Cr and 18–24 months. The Sharang Shakti acquisition compresses both.
Competitive Impact — Who Should Be Watching?
| Player | Why This Matters |
| ideaForge Technology | India’s leading listed drone company now faces a rival with Goyal’s personal brand attracting defence-track engineers. LAT’s STOL + counter-drone stack could position it as a single-vendor platform — something ideaForge cannot currently offer. |
| Zen Technologies | Zen’s C-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems) systems are government-validated but slower to innovate. If LAT ships a C-SWaP radar product by 2027, Zen’s pricing power in the military procurement channel gets directly challenged. |
| DRDO / HAL | A Goyal-backed private company building indigenous defence tech from first principles creates political pressure on DRDO’s monopoly on defence R&D funding and contracts. DRDO’s slow procurement cycles are what created the market gap Sharang Shakti was filling. |
| Other Defence Tech VCs | LAT’s acquisition will trigger a re-rating of Indian C-UAS startups. AUM Ventures and Venture Highway — Sharang Shakti’s pre-seed backers — are now exit-validated, boosting deal flow for India’s nascent defence VC ecosystem. |
| Tata Advanced Systems / L&T Defence | Conglomerates that have dominated Indian private defence for 20 years now see a new archetype emerge: founder-led, first-principles aerospace company with venture capital and consumer tech distribution instincts. |
What’s Next
Our prediction: LAT Aerospace will use the Sharang Shakti acquisition to unlock two parallel tracks. On the defence side, expect a government pilot — likely CISF airport perimeter security or Indian Army field unit C-UAS deployment — within 18 months. On the civil side, Sharang Shakti’s radar and sensing stack will be integrated into LAT One v0.3+’s collision-avoidance and autonomous navigation layer, removing LAT’s dependence on foreign sensor vendors.
The milestone that will matter most: whether Karan Goyal, Chirag Singla, and Jitendra Singh — Sharang Shakti’s founding team — remain technical leads at LAT 12 months after acquisition. If they do, LAT has a genuine dual-use aerospace company in the making. If they leave, the acquisition was Rs 5 Cr of IP and a press release.
The bigger question is not about LAT — it’s about what this acquisition signals for Indian defence tech. A founder of Goyal’s stature betting personal capital on indigenous defence capability, without a government contract guarantee, is the clearest possible signal that India’s private defence ecosystem has come of age. The decade of Atmanirbhar Bharat in aerospace starts here.
Liked this story? Follow StartupFeed on Google so our reporting reaches you first.
