L-R, Constelli founders Avinash Chenreddy and Satya Gopal PanigrahiDefence technology startup Constelli has raised $20 million (about ₹180-190 crore) in a funding round led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm General Catalyst, with participation from 360 One Asset Management and existing investor Pravega Ventures, said the company’s cofounder and CEO Satya Gopal Panigrahi.
The Hyderabad-based company builds electronic intelligence and signal processing systems. Panigrahi told ET that the fresh capital will be deployed towards product research and development focused on next-generation electronic warfare and communication payloads across platforms, including drones, ground systems, naval vessels and satellites.
The company also plans to set up infrastructure for rapid prototyping and early-stage production to speed up deployment of field-ready systems.
ET had reported on December 17 last year that Constelli was in discussions to raise $15-20 million in a round led by General Catalyst.
“When we started Constelli, the intention was to build a global technology company from India. We had seen how India depended heavily on imports for high-end systems such as surveillance, radar, electronic warfare. These are complex, intelligence-driven systems, and in modern warfare, the intelligence layer has become even more critical,” Panigrahi said.
“We realised that India needed indigenous capability in this space. So the idea was to develop high-end technology from India not just for domestic use, but products that can compete globally,” he added.
Panigrahi said that while India is a key market, the company has also exported to countries such as Singapore, Australia and South Korea.
Founded in 2017 by Panigrahi and Avinash Chenreddy, Constelli started as a software-focused company but has added hardware capabilities and supplied sub-systems over the past four-five years.
Panigrahi said that now the startup is transitioning into a full systems player.
“We design both hardware and software in-house. We focus heavily on miniaturisation. In some categories, our prototypes are among the smallest available in the Indian market. We’ve benchmarked against international products, including certain Israeli systems, and are comparable in specifications,” he said.
Defence tech startups in India have been raising increasing amounts of capital in recent years, as sharpening policy focus on locally made solutions and government procurement processes have opened the doors for private players to supply advanced military technologies to the armed forces.
Government spending on defence has also consistently increased. The budget allocated ₹7.84 lakh crore to the defence ministry for 2026-27, up from ₹6.81 lakh crore for this financial year.
Over the past few years, the government has also intensified its push for domestic defence manufacturing under the Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan programmes. The emphasis gained momentum after Operation Sindoor last year, which underscored both India’s operational preparedness and the importance of having critical equipment available from indigenous sources at short notice.
According to Tracxn data, startups in this segment recorded the highest annual capital inflow to date of $247 million in 2025, taking the cumulative funding to $711 million over the past ten years.
The largest deal in the segment last year was a $100-million round for Noida-based drone maker Raphe mPhibr, with General Catalyst leading that transaction as well.
General Catalyst managing director and CEO for India and Middle East-North Africa, Neeraj Arora, said in a statement, “Constelli represents the indigenous innovation India needs to build strategic resilience in AI-led defence technology and electronic warfare. The company combines deep technical capability with strong customer validation and the ability to deliver mission-critical systems at scale. As India enters a pivotal decade for defence modernisation, we believe Constelli will play a defining role in the country’s sovereignty and self-reliance.”
The investments in Raphe mPhibr and Constelli are part of General Catalyst’s “global resilience” thesis, through which it targets investments in startups building to strengthen national capabilities on aspects such as defence, manufacturing, healthcare and supply chains.
In the US, the fund is a backer of Palmer Luckey’s defence tech startup Anduril Technologies, Helsing and missile maker Castellion, founded by former SpaceX engineers.
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