Storyboard18 · Mar 2026
Reports that Deepinder Goyal was in advanced talks to invest about $1 million in Kalam Labs as part of a larger $5-7 million round, with Globaz Technologies also expected to participate.
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 30, 2026
Overview
Lucknow-based Kalam Labs is a YC S21 startup that began as a kids/space-learning product and pivoted into a near-space/stratospheric aerospace and defence lab building ISR, weather, and strike UAV systems in-house. Public sources disagree on total funding and revenue, so the structured fields below use the most explicit source-backed figures available.
Primary product
Near-space / stratospheric UAV systems for ISR, weather retrieval, and defence missions
Founded
2021
Headquarters
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Team size
10-20
Industry
Defense and Space Manufacturing
Sub-industry
Near-space aerial systems / stratospheric UAVs
Offices
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India (HQ)
Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Business model
Defence hardware R&D and prototyping
Government/defence contracting
Custom aerospace mission systems and platform sales
Funding
People & investors
Work & culture
Mission-driven, hands-on, engineering-heavy, and experimental, with in-house manufacturing/testing and at least some roles structured around a hacker-house style living arrangement.
Compensation
Public engineering postings show roughly ₹7.2L-₹14L at YC and third-party reposts ranging from about ₹4L-₹24L depending on role and experience; some roles include accommodation and food.
Benefits
competitive salary and benefits package
professional development opportunities
career advancement opportunities
flexible working hours
provided accommodation
free food in hacker-house setup
Product & market
Pricing
Primarily B2B project/custom hardware and defence-contract model; exact pricing is not publicly disclosed.
Differentiators
- —stratospheric / near-space flight above conventional drone altitudes
- —in-house manufacturing and testing
- —reusable radiosonde and weather-retrieval capability
- —stealth ISR and long-endurance platform concepts
- —custom flight controller and encrypted GCS
- —balloon-assisted deployment
Technology
custom 550 MHz flight controller
in-house firmware
carbon fiber composite airframes
100 km VTX/telemetry
encrypted mission planning Ground Control Station (GCS)
C
C++
Python
MATLAB
Linux
Git
PX4
ArduPilot
ROS
Gazebo
Kalman filtering
Arduino
ESP microcontrollers
RF/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi sensors
Customers
Indian Army
India Meteorological Department (IMD)
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (mission collaboration)
IIT Kanpur
IISc Bangalore
Competitors
Garuda Aerospace
iDeaForge
satellite-based ISR systems
traditional drone manufacturers
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
under $1M
Estimated monthly visits
9.7K
Traffic estimate as of Jul 2026
Latest news
Indian Express · Jan 2026
Kalam Labs pitched on Shark Tank India Season 5, asking Rs 2 crore for 0.67% equity at a Rs 300 crore valuation; the panel included Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta, Kunal Bahl, Mohit Yadav, and Namita Thapar.
Business Today · Jan 2026
Explains Kalam Labs' near-space drone focus, IMD mission in March 2025, deployments at Pokhran and the LAC, and its current stratospheric product lineup.
YourStory · Nov 2025
A detailed profile of the company's pivot from K-12 space edtech to defence-tech, its in-house manufacturing, reported $2M total funding, revenue claims, competitors, and military use cases.
Jobs and careers at Kalam Labs
0 jobs at Kalam Labs
No open positions
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