Drone maker ideaForge Technology Ltd. has filed papers with the market regulator to raise funds through an initial public offering to repay debt and raise working capital.

The Mumbai-based supplier of equipment to India's defence forces plans to raise Rs 300 crore by issuing nearly 48.7 lakh new equity shares, according to its draft red herring prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

The book building offer reserves 75% of the shares on offer to qualified institutional buyers, 15% to non-institutional investors and 10% to retail individual bidders.

JM Financial Ltd. and IIFL Securities Ltd. are the book running lead managers.

The proceeds from its fresh issuance of up to Rs 50 crore will be used for repayment or prepayment of debt; Rs 135 crore to fund working capital requirements; and Rs 40 crore for product development and general corporate purposes.

ideaForge Technology, founded in 2007, had a market share of about 50% in fiscal 2022 in aircraft systems market, according to its prospectus.

The company has its own exclusive autopilot sub-system and ground control software and takes full integration of its payloads, communication system and packaging, the filing said. Its customers include the armed forces, central armed police forces, state police departments, disaster management forces, forest departments besides other civil customers.

Apart from manufacturing drones, ideaForge offers sales maintenance services and is in the process of developing UAVs as an on-demand service, according to its filing.

The company's revenue from operations has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 237.48% in the last three fiscals to Rs 159.44 crore in the fiscal 2022, primarily driven by sales to defence sector clients.