Odisha's Coratia raises Rs 18 crore to build underwater robots for Navy
By Karan BansalTech Startups Correspondent, Peepals Tech
Representative image: sweetlouise / Pixabay
Underwater robotics start-up Coratia Technologies raised Rs 18 crore in a bridge round led by MGF Kavachh, reported on October 29, 2026, for its Navy order.
What Happened
Coratia Technologies, an underwater robotics start-up from Odisha, has raised Rs 18 crore in a bridge round led by MGF Kavachh, it was reported on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The company said the money will help it carry out a Rs 66 crore contract with the Indian Navy, signed in September 2025 under the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) programme, and fund research, product development and an expansion of manufacturing. A bridge round is a smaller raise that carries a company between two larger funding rounds.
Key Facts
- Amount: Rs 18 crore, about $2 million, in a round led by MGF Kavachh; one start-up database describes it as a Series A extension of about $1.89 million.
- Purpose: delivering a Rs 66 crore Indian Navy contract under iDEX, plus research and development and manufacturing expansion.
- The Navy contract covers supply and maintenance of Indian-made underwater robots for cleaning ship hulls, minor salvage work and inspecting submerged structures.
- Earlier funding: a pre-Series A round of about Rs 17 crore in 2025 from MGF Kavachh, Piper and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
- The company was founded in 2021 by Debendra Pradhan and Biswajit Swain and was incubated at NIT Rourkela.
- It builds autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which move on their own, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), which are steered by an operator through a cable.
- The company says its flagship Jalasimha ROV has reached Technology Readiness Level 9, the stage at which a product is proven in real operations.
Why It Matters
Underwater work is slow, costly and dangerous when it depends on human divers. Ships collect marine growth on their hulls, which raises fuel use and has to be cleaned off. Ports, dams, pipelines and naval bases need regular checks below the waterline. Robots that can inspect and clean in murky water reduce the time ships spend out of service and keep divers out of risky jobs.
That is where iDEX comes in. Run by the Ministry of Defence, the programme gives start-ups and small firms a route to develop technology for the armed forces and, if they succeed, win orders. A Rs 66 crore order is a significant one for a company founded in 2021. Orders like this also strain a young firm's cash: it must build, test and deliver before the payments arrive. Bridge funding from an existing investor is a common way to manage that gap.
The deal also shows defence technology start-ups growing outside the big metros. Coratia came out of NIT Rourkela in Odisha, not Bengaluru or Pune, and SIDBI, a government development bank, has backed it. Its lead investor, MGF Kavachh, is a fund focused on defence technology and has backed the company since its earlier round.
Readers should note that performance claims, such as the readiness level of the Jalasimha ROV, are the company's own; the Navy order is the clearest outside sign of confidence in its products.
| Coratia Technologies at a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2021, incubated at NIT Rourkela, Odisha |
| Latest round (reported October 29, 2026) | Rs 18 crore, led by MGF Kavachh |
| Earlier round (2025) | About Rs 17 crore pre-Series A |
| Main contract | Rs 66 crore Indian Navy order under iDEX, signed September 2025 |
Impact
Short-term: The new money lets Coratia expand production and keep work on the Navy order on schedule.
Long-term: If it delivers, the company could supply ports, offshore energy firms and other navies, and add to India's push to make defence equipment at home rather than import it.
Who is affected: The Indian Navy and its ship maintenance teams, divers who do hazardous underwater work, engineering graduates in Odisha and other non-metro states, and investors in defence technology.
Key Takeaway
Coratia Technologies has raised Rs 18 crore, led by MGF Kavachh, to deliver its Rs 66 crore iDEX contract to build underwater robots for the Indian Navy.
Questions and Answers
How much did Coratia Technologies raise?
It raised Rs 18 crore in a bridge round led by MGF Kavachh, reported on October 29, 2026. One database describes the round as a Series A extension of about $1.89 million.
What does Coratia Technologies make?
The Odisha start-up builds underwater robots: autonomous underwater vehicles that move on their own and remotely operated vehicles steered by an operator, used for hull cleaning, inspection and minor salvage.
What is the Indian Navy contract with Coratia?
It is a Rs 66 crore contract, signed in September 2025 under the Ministry of Defence's iDEX programme, to supply and maintain Indian-made underwater robots.
What is iDEX?
Innovations for Defence Excellence is a Ministry of Defence programme that helps start-ups and small companies develop technology for the armed forces and win orders.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Karan Bansal, Tech Startups CorrespondentCovers Tech Start-ups & Stories and more for Peepals Tech. All stories by Karan Bansal
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Karan Bansal is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
