IIT-M incubated e-plane firm gets USD 5 million to propel business

The ePlane Company, which was incubated at the IIT-Madras, has won the backing of marquee investors like as renowned tech evangelist Naval Ravikant and a consortium of deep-tech and EV venture fund groups to raise USD 5 million in its pre-series A funding.

“You don’t need to be a Boeing to start manufacturing,” said Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, IIT-M professor who, along with his student Pranjal Mehta, founded the country’s first flying taxi startup. Professor Chakravarthy said flying on e-planes from say Kovilpatti to Madurai would soon become a reality, taking only a fraction of the time for a little extra fare than taxis. The funding was led by Speciale Invest and clean mobility fund Micelio Mobility. The new partners on board include UTEC - The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, 3one4 Capital, InfoEdge-backed Redstart Labs, Prashant Pitti, Anicut Capital LLP and Thought Ventures.