Zupple Labs wins DRDO project to audit blockchain security for defence

Zupple Labs, a blockchain start-up based in Mangaluru, Karnataka, has been awarded a project called "Security Analysis and Auditing of Blockchain" under the Defence Research and Development Organisation's Technology Development Fund, according to reports published on Tuesday, 10 November and Wednesday, 11 November 2026. DRDO's Scientific Analysis Group is the nodal laboratory for the work. The company will build a platform that lets defence agencies check and grade the security of blockchain applications before they are put to use.

A blockchain is a shared digital record that is very hard to change once written, which makes it useful for certificates, supply records and audit trails. Defence bodies are interested in such systems, but a weakness in the code or in how the network is set up could expose sensitive data. Martis has said that defence agencies today lack a standard way to evaluate blockchain systems before they are deployed, and that many Indian government bodies cannot run on public blockchain networks because of security and sovereignty requirements. The project is meant to fill that gap with a common method of testing.

For India's start-up ecosystem, the award shows a small company from a tier-2 city winning defence research work directly from DRDO. The award has been described in reports as the first blockchain project of its kind under the fund. Most deep-tech defence work has gone to large companies or to start-ups in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune; a Mangaluru firm being picked suggests that the TDF route is open to specialist teams outside the main hubs.

Zupple Labs is best known for LegitDoc, a product that lets organisations issue digital certificates and records that cannot be tampered with and can be checked online. The DRDO project moves it from issuing secure credentials to testing the security of other blockchain systems.

The Technology Development Fund is run by DRDO under the Ministry of Defence to help Indian industry, especially MSMEs and start-ups, develop defence components, products, systems and technologies at home. In June 2022 the ministry raised the funding limit to Rs 50 crore per project from Rs 10 crore. The scheme covers up to 90% of a project's cost, and companies may work in a consortium with other firms or with academic institutions. At the time of that change, 56 projects had been sanctioned. The increase was linked to the Union Budget 2022-23 decision to set aside 25% of the defence research budget for private industry, start-ups and academia.

Peepals calculation: The fund raised its per-project limit five-fold, from Rs 10 crore to Rs 50 crore (50 / 10 = 5). Because it pays up to 90% of a project's cost, a company reaches the Rs 50 crore cap only when the project costs about Rs 55.6 crore (50 / 0.9 ≈ 55.6); below that, the firm itself pays at least one rupee in every ten. A 30-month project runs two and a half years (30 / 12 = 2.5). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Zupple Labs begins work with DRDO's Scientific Analysis Group on the audit framework. The award gives the start-up a government defence client.

Long-term: If the framework is completed and adopted, blockchain systems proposed for defence use could be tested against one common standard before deployment. Other Indian firms selling blockchain products to defence buyers would then know the test they must pass.

Who is affected: Zupple Labs and its staff, DRDO's Scientific Analysis Group, defence agencies considering blockchain systems, and Indian blockchain and cybersecurity start-ups that may build or test products for defence use.

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