LAT Aerospace, a venture co-founded by Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal and former Zomato COO Surobhi Das, has acquired Gurugram-based defence robotics startup Sharang Shakti, marking the company’s entest into indigenous defence technology development.
Goyal announced the deal in a post on X (formerly Twitter), describing it as the company’s “first shift toward building indigenous defence capabilities” while pursuing its broader ambition of developing next-generation aviation platforms from India.
“LAT Aerospace has acquired Sharang Shakti, an early-stage defence robotics startup based in Gurgaon,” Goyal wrote.
Neither LAT Aerospace nor Sharang Shakti disclosed the financial terms of the transaction.
Sharang Shakti is building an anti-drone air defence system, an area of growing strategic importance amid rising security threats and the rise of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Goyal stated the acquisition reflects a deliberate effort to develop foundational technologies that can serve both military and civilian applications. “This is our first shift toward building indigenous defence capabilities alongside our long-term mission of developing next-generation civil aviation platforms from India,” he stated.
He emphasised that the technological overlap between defence and aviation builds such integration natural rather than opportunistic.
“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,” Goyal stated.
By absorbing Sharang Shakti into its operations, LAT Aerospace aims to build these capabilities internally rather than relying on external vconcludeors or foreign technology.
“By bringing Sharang Shakti into LAT, we are building these capabilities in-houtilize, from first principles, with the intent to deploy them across both defence and civil programs over time,” he stated.
The shift comes as India pushes for self-reliance in defence manufacturing under its broader Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, with startups increasingly playing a role in developing advanced systems such as drones, counter-drone platforms and autonomous technologies.
LAT Aerospace itself has been positioning as a long-term bet on building advanced aerospace platforms from India, though details of its civil aviation roadmap remain limited.
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