Odisha-based deeptech startup Coratia Technologies has raised Rs 18 crore in a bridge round led by MGF Kavachh, the venture capital fund floated by former Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar. The fresh capital will go towards executing its Rs 66 crore contract with the Indian Navy under the iDEX initiative, research and development on new products, and scaling manufacturing and deployment for defence and critical infrastructure applications.
Signed in September 2025, the Navy contract covers three platforms: the Jalasimha and Jaladuta underwater remotely operated vehicles (UWROVs) and the Navya autonomous surface vehicle. Built for sonar mapping, seabed surveys, ship hull cleaning, minor salvage and inspection of submerged infrastructure with AI-based real-time data processing, the deal was described as the first large-scale induction of indigenously built underwater robots into active naval service. Jalasimha, the flagship, has reached Technology Readiness Level 9, the highest on the scale.
The bridge round is a follow-on investment by MGF Kavachh, which had backed Coratia's Rs 17 crore pre-Series A in 2025 alongside Pontaq Ventures. The startup later raised Rs 5 crore in a round led by Piper Serica and received Rs 1 crore through T-Hub's SIDBI iDEX Fund. Together, the bridge and pre-Series A rounds amount to about Rs 35 crore.
Co-founders Debendra Pradhan (CEO) and Biswajit Swain (CTO), mechanical engineering graduates of NIT Rourkela's 2017 batch, returned from corporate jobs to start Coratia full-time in 2021 and still work out of the institute's incubation centre. The company, which pitched on Shark Tank India before landing the Navy contract, counts the Indian Navy, Indian Oil, Indian Railways, Tata Steel, Hindalco and SAIL among its clients and partners, with applications across dams, ports, bridges, pipelines and offshore assets.
FundForge Insight: India's defence indigenisation drive is pulling dual-use deeptech from the lab into the fleet, and iDEX is proving it can carry a startup from a challenge win to a serious procurement contract. But a Rs 66 crore order also concentrates execution risk in a company of roughly 32 people: this bridge round is working capital for delivery, not a war chest. The proof points to watch are on-time delivery to the Navy and whether civil infrastructure inspection becomes a second, repeatable revenue line.
Sources: Indian Startup News (October 30, 2026) and Entrepreneur India (October 30, 2026). Figures as announced by the company and investors. This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
Image: A work-class underwater ROV by Brennan Phillips, public domain via Wikimedia Commons; converted to black and white. Shown for illustration - not a Coratia vehicle.
