Drone Manufacturer ideaForge announced on June 23 that it successfully raised Rs 255 crore from investors in an anchor round ahead of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) that opens for public subscription on Monday.

According to a circular uploaded on the BSE website, the company allocated 37.93 lakh equity shares to 31 funds for Rs 672 per share, with the transaction size totalling Rs 255 crore.

Notable anchor investors, including Nomura Funds Ireland Public Ltd, Pinebridge Global Funds, Goldman Sachs Funds, and Tata AIA Life Insurance Company and domestic mutual funds (MF) like ICICI Prudential MF, Axis MF, HDFC MF and Quant MF participated in the anchor round.

The company also raised Rs 60 crore in a pre-IPO placement round last week from institutional investors, including Tata AIG General Insurance, 360 ONE Special Opportunities Fund, Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund, and Think Investments PCC. 

The Rs 550.69 crore to Rs 567.24 crore IPO, depending on the price band of Rs 638 to 672 per share, consists of a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 240 crore and an offer for sale of 48,69,712 equity shares with a reservation for subscription by eligible employees and will be open from June 26 to June 29. 

The proceeds from the fresh issuance of Rs 50 crore will be utilised for debt payment, Rs 40 crore for investment in product development, Rs 135 towards funding the working capital gap, and the remaining amount for general corporate purposes.

ideaForge has been backed by prominent ventures and marquee private equity investors such as Qualcomm Asia, Infosys and Celesta Capital, with Mathew Cyriac-backed Florintree Enterprises being the single largest shareholder in the company with an 11.85% stake.