08-Feb-24 10:00

Kamarul Muhamed, Founder & Group CEO, Aerodyne Group

Profitable Aerodyne could IPO as soon as next year. The drone solutions provider made $65 million in revenue in 2023 and expects to hit $143 million this year, with plans to raise between $100 to $200 million in its Series C funding round. Series C will mark its final pre-IPO funding round and with a dual-listing on the cards, they are expecting to list locally as well as abroad. On the shortlist of foreign exchanges includes the NYSE, the Nasdaq, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In this episode of Open For Business, you will learn what drew Kamarul out of the corporate world and into the drone business and startup life, what the early days of building Aerodyne were like and how much the company has evolved in the last decade, as well as where the company is in its Series C funding round and why M&A continues to be a key strategy for growth.

Kamarul has his roots in audit and chartered accountancy, before getting a taste of tech that led him towards entrepreneurship when he founded Malaysia.tv in 2003, before running a production house called DKM2 in 2006. Interestingly enough it was the UAV division of his production house that became the first version of Aerodyne.

Founded in 2014, Aerodyne was just a 3-person startup, 10 years later– it's a global business that was ranked the World's Number 1 drone service provider for 3 consecutive years. The company now operates in more than 45 countries and across various sectors like oil and gas, security and surveillance, and agriculture.

Aerodyne has raised around $80-90 million in 5 fundraising rounds and is backed by quite a list of investors, including Gobi Ventures, 500 Global, KWAP, and Petronas Ventures. The company isn't afraid to splash the cash to buy growth having 21 global M&As in the last 10 years and is looking to raise $100 million to $200 million in its Series C funding round to continue its growth story, organically and inorganically to buy market access and the technology.

Beyond this Series C round (which it expects to be its final pre-IPO round), the next key milestone for Aerodyne is their much anticipated IPO, with Kamarul saying last year that this could happen within the next 2-3 years, with a dual-listing potentially on the cards.